A Delhi court has ordered framing of charges against Chirag Patnaik, who was part of the social media team of the Congress, for “prima facie” outraging the modesty of a woman, saying any annoyance caused to a woman due to the unwelcome advances of a man cannot be termed “slight harm”.
Additional Session Judge Rajinder Singh passed the directions on August 23 while upholding an order of a magisterial court, which had in April last year held that charges for the offence punishable under section 354 (assault or criminal force to a woman with intent to outrage her modesty) and 509 (word, gesture, or act intended to insult the modesty of a woman) of the IPC were made out.
The session court said it did not find any reason warranting interference in the impugned order.
The judge noted that in the complaint, there were specific allegations that the accused tapped upon the shoulders and hands of his colleague without any specific reason.
In view of the other allegations mentioned in the complaint, at this stage there is no reason to believe that the accused tapped upon the shoulders and hands of the complainant in an innocuous manner or out of some legally justifiable compulsion or reason,” the judge said.
The act of tapping upon the shoulders and hands of the complainant by the accused amounts to the use of criminal force since it resulted in annoyance to the complainant, the judge said.
“In my considered opinion, any annoyance caused to a female (complainant or victim) due to the unwelcome advances of a male cannot be called a’slight harm’, for which a female of ordinary sense…should not complain,” he said.
