The Kerala High Court has quashed a criminal case against filmmaker Sreekumar Menon on the grounds that mere utterances of unpleasant or abusive words without an intention to insult the modesty of a woman did not constitute an offence under Section 509 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).
The single-judge Bench of Justice S Manu observed that mere utterances of unpleasant or abusive words without an intention either to insult the modesty of a woman or to intrude upon the privacy of such a woman would not attract an offence under Section 509 of the IPC.
It said the offence under the provision would only be attracted in case it satisfied the ingredients, such as utterance of any word, making of any sound or gesture, exhibition of any object, done with the intention to insult the modesty of a woman or with an intention to intrude upon the privacy of such a woman.
The High Court further noted that taking into consideration the facts and circumstances of the case, the word used might be defamatory and might have hurt the de facto complainant. However, it was not sufficient to constitute the offence under Section 294(b).
When all other offences alleged in the final report were found unsustainable, prosecution solely for the offence under Section 120(o) of the Kerala Police Act would not survive as permission required under the law was not available, it added and quashed the proceedings against Menon.
The single-judge Bench passed the order on a criminal miscellaneous case against Menon in the proceedings arising from a case registered by actress Manju Warrier.
A case was registered against Menon on the basis of a complaint lodged by Warrier in 2019, nearly 20 years after the incident.
The actress claimed that she was running a charitable organisation called Manju Warrier Foundation, along with her parents, during the time of submitting the petition.
As per the complaint, Warrier had engaged ‘PUSH’, a company belonging to Menon, for coordinating the activities of her foundation. She also acted in some advertorials in association with ‘PUSH’. An agreement was executed with ‘PUSH’ in 2013 and it was terminated in 2017 on account of differences developed between her and the petitioner, she added.
The complainant said that she also acted in a film called ‘Odiyan’, which was directed by Menon. She alleged that during the shooting and later at the time of releasing and promotion of the movie, Menon allegedly defamed her.
Warrier accused Menon of talking to her in an indecent manner and mentally harassing her at the shooting site. She further alleged that the film director made efforts to ruin her goodwill and harass her associates.
She sought the return of the signed papers in possession of Menon, as well as directions to prevent him from making comments, tending to cause disrepute to her and to outrage her modesty.
Menon was represented by Advocate Vinay V, while Public Prosecutor (PP) Nima Jacob appeared for Warrier and others.