Kolkata: Quashing a criminal case, the Calcutta High Court held that mere allegations of “harassment” or “abuse” at the workplace does not constitute outraging modesty of a woman.
The bench of Justice Ajoy Kumar Mukherjee held that such allegations, in the absence of specific words, gestures, or actions aimed at insulting the complainant’s modesty, do not constitute an offence under Section 509 IPC (insulting the modesty of any woman).
The bench observed that in the case the complaint failed to disclose the essential ingredients required to establish the offence. According to the prosecution, the complainant, a former employee of a media organisation, had lodged an FIR in October 2018, more than a year after resigning from the company in July 2017. She alleged that she had been harassed during her tenure in 2016-17.
The initial case was registered under Sections 354 and 114 of the IPC, but following investigation, the police submitted a chargesheet under Section 509. The court noted that the complainant neither specified the nature of the alleged harassment nor detailed any act that could indicate an intention to insult her modesty. “Even in her statement before the magistrate, she did not mention the mode or manner of the abuse,” the court observed. It added that allegations made in isolation without context or supporting evidence do not meet the threshold for criminal prosecution under Section 509.
The court further noted that an internal complaints committee constituted under the relevant workplace harassment legislation had earlier inquired into the same allegations and found no substance in them.AWhile recognising that departmental proceedings and criminal proceedings operate independently, the judge held that the lack of specific allegations and the absence of corroborative material weakened the criminal case significantly.
Justice Mukherjee observed that continuing with the trial despite the absence of key ingredients of the offence would amount to an abuse of the process of law.
Accordingly, the court quashed the proceedings pending before the trial court.