The Kerala High Court on Tuesday quashed criminal cases lodged against seven women activists, including two High Court lawyers, for staging a protest meeting near the High Court junction against the rape of two Dalit girls in Uttar Pradesh.
They were slapped with offences under Sections 143 (unlawful assembly, punishment for rioting), 283 (danger or obstruction in a public way or line of navigation), 294 (a) (obscene acts) of the Indian Penal Code and 118 (a) of Kerala Special Police Act.
The demonstration was held on June 4, 2015.
The petitions filed by lawyer K.K Preetha and others sought to quash the cases pending against them before the Ernakulam Judicial First Class Magistrate Court.
Quashing the charges, Justice Alexander Thomas observed that the petitioners had not committed any acts which appeal to prurient interests so as to attract the charge of obscenity.
