The Bombay High Court has ordered the accused in a case of outraging the modesty of a woman to pay ₹30,000 to the Tata Memorial Hospital in Parel after their counsel claimed that an out-of-court settlement had been reached.
A Division Bench of Justice Ranjit More and Justice Sadhana Jadhav was hearing a petition filed by Subramanian Ananthakrishan. The order read, “As the police and court machinery was used by the parties to settle their private disputes, it would be appropriate to saddle them with the cost of ₹30,000 to be paid to the Tata Memorial Hospital, an institution that takes care of advanced and terminally-ill cancer patients.”
The court also refused to quash the FIR that had been registered under Sections 354 (assault or criminal force to woman with intent to outrage her modesty), 506 (punishment for criminal intimidation) and 509 (word, gesture or act intended to insult the modesty of a woman) of the Indian Penal Code.
The counsel said the parties settled their differences while the case was being investigated and had no objection in quashing the FIR lodged by them. The counsel said all parties had submitted the affidavits of their own free will.
The court said, “It transpires that the allegations are personal in nature and there is no element of public law involved in the crime. The subject FIR shall not be treated to have been quashed and the police and magistrate shall proceed against the accused in accordance with law.”
