Read Time: 05 minutes

Synopsis

A Single Judge Bench of the Kerala High Court comprising Justice Kauser Edappagath, upheld the pre-arrest bail granted by the Sessions Court, with additional conditions and further expunged the remarks of the Sessions Court with respect to the 'provocative dress' of the victim.

The case pertains to a pre-arrest bail that was moved by the respondent before the Sessions Court for allegedly outraging the modesty of a woman who was resting near a seashore during a cultural fest. An FIR was registered on the complaint of the victim and thereafter the accused made an application before the Sessions Court. The Sessions Court while granting pre-arrest bail had noted that the victim was wearing a provocative dress.

The State then filed an appeal against the order of the Sessions court and argued that the court must be cautious and circumspect in exercising the power under Section 438 of the CrPC which is discretionary in nature and should not be exercised without any valid reason. Further, it was submitted that observations that if the victim was wearing a sexually provocative dress cannot be sustained.

The advocate for the respondent i.e., the accused argued that the observation of wearing a sexually provocative dress is misplaced. It was also argued that there was a delay of 2½ years in lodging the FIR, the investigation is practically over and the accused is a senior citizen.

The court while expunging the observations of the Sessions Court noted that –

“Everyone has the freedom to wear whatever he/she wants to wear subject to the laws of the land. Objectifying women in regard to what she wears cannot be justified. There is no reason why a woman should be judged by her clothes. Norms that categorize woman based on their attire and expressions can never be tolerated. There cannot be any thought that women dress only to lure male attention.”

The court also noted that –

“It is wrong to say that a woman was sexually assaulted just because she was wearing provocative clothes. Sexually provocative dressing of a victim cannot be construed as a legal ground to absolve an accused from the charge of insulting the modesty of a woman. The right to wear any dress is a natural extension of personal freedom guaranteed by the Constitution of India. Even if a woman wears a sexually provocative dress, that cannot give a licence to a man to outrage her modesty”

The court allowed the pre-arrest bail granted to the accused with additional conditions and expunged the observations of the Sessions Court

Case Title: State of Kerala vs. Civic Chandran