The Bombay high court on Saturday withdrew a case against 13 men who were arrested in December 2015 for indulging in obscene acts with women in a flat, citing that such acts in a private place were no
The Bombay high court on Saturday withdrew a case against 13 men who were arrested in December 2015 for indulging in obscene acts with women in a flat, citing that such acts in a private place were not a criminal offence.
A division bench under Justice N.H. Patil and A.M. Badar was hearing a petition filed by the men seeking quashing of the FIR registered against them by the Andheri police.
The court said, “Any obscene act done in a private place is not a criminal offence under the Indian Penal Code and a case under IPC section 294 cannot be registered.”
IPC Section 294 is applied when anyone indulges in an obscene act in any public place or sings or utters any obscene songs or words in any public place causing annoyance to others.
According to the Andheri police, on December 12, 2015, it received a complaint from a journalist about loud music emanating from a flat in the neighbourhood and that scantily-dressed women were seen from the window dancing and men were showering money on them.
The Andheri police then raided the flat and found six women who were dancing and 13 men consuming liquor in the flat. All the men were taken into custody and an FIR was registered against them.
Petitioners’ advocate Rajendra Shirodkar argued that the flat in question couldn’t be said to be a public place where anyone had access. The court accepted this argument and said, “Obscene acts done in a private place or viewed in privacy is not covered by the provisions of Section 294 of IPC. The flat in the building owned by some private person meant for private use of such owner cannot be said to be a public place.”
“Section 294 of IPC is meant for punishing persons indulging in obscene acts in public places, causing annoyance to others. As such, the places where such the obscene act is committed needs to be a public place and meant for use of public at large,” the court said. “The public must have free access to such places so as to call it a public place. The place where public have no right or a lawful right to enter into, cannot be said to be a public place for invoking the penal provisions of Section 294 of the IPC,” the court added.
