Explore Business Standard
Don’t miss the latest developments in business and finance.
Senior's admonition at the workplace does not amount to an "intentional insult" requiring criminal proceedings, the Supreme Court has held. The top court said allowing criminal charges to be pressed against individuals in such cases may lead to disastrous consequences, crippling the entire disciplinary atmosphere required in the workplace. A bench of Justices Sanjay Karol and Sandeep Mehta said that mere abuse, discourtesy, rudeness or insolence do not amount to an intentional insult within the meaning of Section 504 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC). Section 504 of the IPC deals with intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of peace. The offence, punishable with jail term of up to two years, has now been replaced with Section 352 under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) effective from July 2024. The top court's judgement came while quashing a 2022 criminal case against the officiating director of the National Institute for Empowerment of Persons with Intellectual Disabilities