The Court explained that while no offence for “outraging the modesty of a woman” was made out, charges under Section 323, IPC for causing hurt would be attracted.
The High Court of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh recently canceled a trial court’s case against someone accused of breaking Section 354 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC). This section deals with assault or force against a woman to outrage her modesty. The case was Mehboob Ali v. Nisar Fatima.
Justice Rajnesh Oswal, who was overseeing the case, decided that the accused person slapping his wife in public didn’t break Section 354 IPC. However, the Court noted that the accused could still be charged under Section 323 IPC, which deals with causing hurt intentionally.
From the averments made in the complaint, no offence under Section 354 IPC is made out but offence under Section 323 IPC is made out as the respondent has categorically stated that she was thrashed and slapped in public gaze by the petitioner when she had come to attend the proceedings,” the Court’s order said.
The Court was reviewing a petition filed by the husband challenging the trial Court’s decision to start legal action based on a complaint from his wife, who accused him of violating Sections 354 and 323 of the IPC.
During their ongoing marital disputes, the wife claimed that her estranged husband publicly slapped her, causing injury, while they were at the family court for a hearing on their marital issues.
The trial court started proceedings against the husband based on the complaint, which included Sections 323 and 354 of the IPC. The husband challenged this in the High Court.
The challenges to the trial court proceedings were centered on the argument that the court improperly started action under Section 354 of the IPC, as the allegations did not properly support it.
The wife’s legal representative acknowledged that the criteria for the offence under Section 354 IPC were not met but argued that the offence under Section 323 IPC remained applicable.
The High Court agreed, dismissing the case under Section 354 IPC while upholding the commencement of proceedings under Section 323 IPC.
