The Supreme Court has held that insult or intimidation of a SC-ST person within the four walls of the building, is not an offence under Scheduled Caste and the Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989.
In this case, the FIR stated that the accused entered illegally in to the victim's building and started hurling abuses and used castes' remarks/abuses etc.
The court noted that the basic ingredients of the offence under Section 3(1)(r) of the Act can be classified as :
1) intentionally insults or intimidates with intent to humiliate a member of a Scheduled Caste or a Scheduled Tribe and
2) in any place within public view.
The bench added, if the remark is made inside a building, but some members of the public are there (not merely relatives or friends) then it would not be an offence since it is not in the public view.