Uttering unpleasant words against woman not insult to modesty: Kerala HC

The Kerala High Court has quashed a criminal case against film director Sreekumar Menon who was accused by a prominent Malayalam actress of abusing and defaming her, saying that mere utterances of unpleasant words against a woman would not result in insult to her modesty.

The order by Justice S Manu came on the plea by Menon, who is the director of the 2018 Indian Malayalam-language fantasy drama film 'Odiyan' starring Mohanlal.

The female actor had alleged that the director had engaged in defaming her during the shooting, promotion and release of the film 'Odiyan' in which she too had a role.

She had also alleged that he behaved in an indecent manner with her and mentally harassed her at the shooting locations.

She later claimed that Menon also used abusive words against her in front of people at Dubai airport.

Based on her complaint, an FIR under sections 354D (stalking), 294(b) (use of obscene words in a public place) and 509 (word, gesture or act intended to insult the modesty of a woman) of the IPC was lodged against Menon in 2019 and the case was pending before a magisterial court after the police completed its investigation.

According to the actor, Menon used abusive words and tried to defame her due to a grudge against her for terminating an agreement she had with his company for coordinating the activities of her foundation.

Rejecting her contentions, the high court said the offence of stalking was not made out as "following a woman to abuse or threaten will not fall within the scope of the penal provision".

It also held that the offence under section 294(b) will not be attracted in the case even though the words used by Menon against the female actor at Dubai airport "may be defamatory and might have hurt the complainant".

The high court further said that the offence under section 509 will be made out only if the obscene words were uttered with the intention to insult the modesty of a woman or intrude upon her privacy.

"Mere utterances of unpleasant or abusive words without an intention either to insult the modesty of the women or to intrude upon the privacy of such women would not attract the offence under section 509 of the IPC," it said.

The HC said that in the instant case, Menon had through Facebook and over phone, allegedly abused the female actor in a manner causing disrepute to her and outraged her modesty.

"When the allegations in the final report regarding the offence under Section 509 of IPC are tested, keeping in mind the principles laid down by this court in the aforementioned decisions, the inevitable conclusion is that the accusations are not sufficient to constitute the offence...," it said.

The high court quashed the final report of the police in the case and the proceedings before the magisterial court.