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IN THE HIGH COURT OF KERALA AT ERNAKULAM
A. BADHARUDEEN, J.
M.V. Joseph – Appellant
Versus
State Of Kerala – Respondent
Crl.MC No. 5402 of 2022
Decided on : 21-05-2024
Section 482 - Quashing of Proceedings - Indian Penal Code, Section 509
Fact of the Case:
The petitioner sought to quash the proceedings arising from an allegation of insulting the modesty of a woman under Section 509 of the Indian Penal Code.
Finding of the Court:
The court analyzed the ingredients of Section 509 IPC and held that the accused's actions did not amount to insulting the modesty of a woman or intruding upon her privacy.
Issues: Interpretation of Section 509 IPC and the intention to insult the modesty of a woman.
Ratio Decidendi: Mere utterance of unpleasant or abusive words without the intention to insult the modesty of a woman or intrude upon her privacy does not attract the offence under Section 509 IPC.
Final Decision: The petition was allowed, and the proceedings were quashed as the ingredients to attract the offence under Section 509 IPC were not made out.
Based on the provided legal document, the key points are as follows:
The case involved an allegation under Section 509 of the Indian Penal Code, which pertains to insulting the modesty of a woman or intruding upon her privacy (!) .
The court analyzed the ingredients of Section 509 IPC and concluded that mere utterance of unpleasant or abusive words, without the intention to insult modesty or intrude upon privacy, does not constitute an offence under this section (!) .
The specific incident involved the accused making a comment in response to a humiliating remark by the complainant. The court found that this comment, which contained a proverb with an abusive element, was made without the intention to insult modesty or intrude upon privacy (!) .
The court emphasized that for an offence under Section 509 IPC, there must be a clear intention to insult modesty or intrude upon privacy. The use of words or gestures alone, without such intent, is insufficient to establish the offence (!) (!) .
The court also considered the meaning of modesty, noting that it relates to decorous behavior and propriety, and found that the words used by the accused did not meet the criteria to constitute an offence under Section 509 IPC (!) .
Ultimately, the court held that the ingredients to attract the offence were not satisfied in this case, leading to the quashing of the proceedings against the accused (!) .
The petition for quashing the proceedings was therefore allowed, and the final report and all related proceedings were dismissed in the interest of justice (!) .
These points summarize the court’s reasoning and decision, highlighting the importance of intent and context in offences related to insulting modesty under Section 509 IPC.
ORDER :
This Crl.M.C. has been filed under Section 482 of the Code of Criminal Procedure and the prayers in the petition are as under:-
a) Call for the entire records leading to Annexure-A2 final report/charge sheet in C.C. No.1146/2019 in the file of the Hon'ble Court below-Judicial First Class Magistrate Court, Tripunithura, quash/set aside the same and all the proceedings arising out of the same in the interest of justice.
b) Grant such other reliefs which are prayed and to be deem fit by this Hon'ble Court in the interest of justice.
2. Heard the learned counsel for the petitioner and the learned Public Prosecutor in detail.
3. Perused the records along with the decisions cited by the learned counsel for the petitioner.
4. In this crime, the concise allegation is that when the de-facto complainant visited the office of BSNL in Tripunithura, on 26.06.2019, for the purpose of converting her micro sim to nano type to suit her mobile phone vide; No.8547312193, and when she approached the male staff (accused herein) for this purpose, the accused not properly done the work. When the defacto complainant informed the same, the accused demanded her to pay Rs.100/- and to purchase a new sim. The said proposal was not acceptable to the de-facto complainant. At this juncture, the accused commented that
OTHER LANGUAGE
Hearing the same the de facto complainant quarreled with accused. According to the defacto complainant, the said comment was made by the accused with intention to insult the de-facto complainant. Thus the accused alleged to have committed the offence punishable under Section 509 of the Indian Penal Code.
5. While pressing for quashing the proceedings as prayed for, the learned counsel for the petitioner argued that no ingredients to attract an offence punishable under Section 509 of the Indian Penal Code is made out by the prosecution records. The learned counsel for the petitioner placed two decisions of this Court to contend that simply because the complainant thought that the words uttered by the accused carried some other meaning it could not be said that the accused to be put to trial, on alleging commission of offence punishable under Section 509 of IPC.
6. The decisions placed are; (1) Fr. Mathew Pulimoottil Episcopa v. State of Kerala [2014 (2) KLT 1] and (2) Basheer v. State of Kerala [2014 (4) SN 65 (C. No.81)]. Referring to the above decisions, it is argued that the subject of insult for a prosecution under Section 509 of the Indian Penal Code must be the modesty of woman and not the woman as such.
7. The learned Public Prosecutor would submit that going by the comments, prima facie, the accused intended to intrude upon the privacy of the defacto complainant and thus the offence is made out.
8. In order to consider the case advanced by the petitioner, and resisted by the Public Prosecutor, reference to Section 509 of IPC is necessary, the same is extracted as under:- “509. Word, gesture or act intended to insult the modesty of a woman – Whoever, intending to insult the modesty of any woman, utters any word, makes any sound or gesture, or exhibits any object, intending that such word or sound shall be heard, or that such gesture or object shall be seen, by such woman, or intrudes upon the privacy of such woman, shall be punished with simple imprisonment for a term which may extend to one year, or with fine, or with both”.
9. This Court in Fr. Mathew Pulimoottil Episcopa's case (supra) considered the allegation of commission of offence punishable under Section 509 IPC, where the accused said “Daisy, why are you peeping? Why are you standing here? For peeping, nothing is being done here”, it was held that the above statements did not constitute an offence under Section 509 IPC. Similarly this Court in Basheer's case (supra) considered the defamatory allegations published in a notice by the accused and it was held that mere insult or false allegation would not attract a prosecution under Section 509 IPC. For a prosecution under
AI
The court affirmed that actions undermining a woman's modesty, such as public defamation, are serious offences under the IPC, warranting legal action regardless of procedural technicalities.
The court established that intent is crucial in determining offences under IPC Sections 509 and 506(1), and mere abusive language without such intent does not suffice for prosecution.
Allegations of stalking and obscenity must meet legal thresholds of intent and evidence; mere accusations without substantiation are insufficient for prosecution.
Insufficient evidence of gestures to constitute an offence under IPC Section 509.
The intention to insult the modesty of a woman is required to establish an offence under Section 509 IPC, which was not evidenced in this case.
The absence of necessary elements to establish criminal offences justifies quashing of proceedings under criminal law.
The judgment emphasizes the importance of establishing the intent behind the actions alleged in offenses related to obscenity and insult to modesty, highlighting the need for prima facie evidence to ....
Vague allegations without specific words do not establish offences under IPC Sections 294(b), 506, and 509, leading to quashing of prosecution.
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