Whether A Word Or Sentence Would Outrage Woman's Modesty Would Depend On Her Background: Delhi High Court

The Delhi High Court has recently ruled that whether a word or sentence outrages a woman's modesty would depend on the background from which she has and the circumstances surrounding her. “Modesty is an attribute associated with female human beings as a class and whether a particular sentence or word would outrage the modesty of the woman would depend upon the background from which the Complainant hails, and the circumstances surrounding the Complainant,” Justice Subramonium Prasad said. The Court observed that whether the particular word or gesture would or would not outrage the modesty of a lady will depend upon trial. Justice Prasad made the observations while refusing to quash an FIR registered by a woman judge against two individuals alleging that they abused and threatened her, thus, outraging her modesty. The FIR was registered on the basis of a complaint made by a judicial officer working in Uttar Pradesh. She alleged that the accused came out of their car and started abusing her after she honked the horn of her car as she was unable to take a U turn. She alleged that the accused hurled abuses at her, threatened her and indicated that she would slap her. It was also alleged that the second person who came out of the car threatened her that he would slap her had it not been a public place. The FIR also alleged that the second person started abusing her in the Punjabi language, which was also sufficient to outrage her modesty. Although the accused persons tendered their unconditional apology, the judge appeared before the court through video-conferencing and refused to accept the same. She said that the accused must face trial for their conduct.“Since Respondent No.2 has refused to accept the unconditional apology given by the Petitioners, this Court has no other option but to proceed ahead to consider as to whether the FIR can be quashed at this juncture or not and whether the words uttered by the Petitioners or alleged to have been uttered by the Petitioners have the capability of outraging the modesty of the Complainant would be a matter of trial,” the Court said. It added that it cannot be said that the words uttered by the accused persons cannot, at any circumstance, affect the modesty of the complainant judge. “The ingredients of Section 509 and 506 IPC is therefore made out in the present case and in view of the fact that Respondent No.2 has refused to accept the unconditional apology, this Court has no other option but to dismiss the present petition under Section 482 CrPC for quashing the FIR,” the Court said.Title: JASDEEP SINGH & ANR v. STATE & ANR.Citation: 2024 LiveLaw (Del) 1373Click here to read order

Whether A Word Or Sentence Would Outrage Woman's Modesty Would Depend On Her Background: Delhi High Court

Nupur Thapliyal

Tags