In a setback for former India cricketer Yuvraj Singh, the Punjab and Haryana High Court on Monday refused to quash the FIR filed against him for his bhangi comments.

Justice Amol Rattan Singh, according to the Live Law website, observed that ‘even if the intention of the user of the word may not be so but the result thereof is to cause indignities/humiliation to any member of a scheduled caste, by reference to any name of a caste as a derogatory word or a pejorative, the intention of the user of such word may become insignificant, looking at the aims and objective of the Act.’
Yuvraj was arrested in October last year by the Haryana Police for making casteist remarks against another cricketer in the past.
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The former India cricketer had referred to Yuzvendra Chahal as bhangi while reacting to the latter’s social media videos. The video of Yuvraj addressing Chahal as bhangi, a casteist slur, had angered netizens, who demanded an apology from the cricketer.
Faced with growing outrage, Yuvraj had issued a clarification, expressing regrets for his remarks. He had tweeted, “I understand that while I was having a conversation with my friends, I was misunderstood, which was unwarranted. However, as a responsible Indian I want to say that if I have unintentionally hurt anybody’s sentiments or feelings, I would like to express regret for the same.”