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2h ago

Punjab and Haryana HC Quashes FIR, Rules Unwelcome Talk Doesn’t Meet Section 354

The court cited a Supreme Court ruling to stress that Section 354 requires criminal force with intent to outrage modesty.

The petitioner had approached HC in 2024 challenging the charges framed against him under Section 354 of IPC (which deals with the assault or use of criminal force with an intent to outrage modesty of a woman). He had also sought quashing of the FIR. (File)
Punjab & Haryana HC said the man’s conduct, as unpleasant as it was, was not 'shocking the sense of decency of a woman' to constitute an offence under IPC section 354. | Commons

Overview

  • Justice Kirti Singh issued the order on 18 September 2025, quashing the FIR and the framing of charges in the case.
  • The court held that the record contained no allegation of assault or use of criminal force, so the statutory ingredients of Section 354 IPC were not satisfied.
  • Reliance was placed on the Supreme Court’s January 2025 Naresh Aneja decision, which clarifies that Section 354 requires application of criminal force with the requisite intent.
  • The prosecutrix testified that in the PGIMS Rohtak library the man tried to start a conversation, she declined, he left, and she stated she had no complaint against him.
  • The FIR, registered on 26 July 2020 under Sections 354-A and 451 after an internal committee recommendation, concerned an accused identified in reports as Gaurav Khatri.