In Brief
Narad Patel was convicted of abusing a Scheduled Tribe member (Section 294 IPC) and committing an atrocity offence under the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act after allegedly cutting his neighbour's field hedge and hurling abuses at a panchayat meeting. The Supreme Court upheld the abuse conviction but set aside the atrocity conviction on reasonable doubt. The complainant's own testimony showed the abusive language did not reference the victim's caste or tribe, though other witnesses claimed otherwise. The Court gave the benefit of doubt to the accused on the caste-based offence while affirming the conviction for general abuse."
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