NEW DELHI: The Karnataka high court has quashed a criminal case against a man accused under Section 75(2) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), holding that accidentally coming in front of a woman while answering nature’s call, without any sexual intent, would not amount to outraging her modesty. The court said the allegations did not meet the requirements of the offence, as per a LiveLaw report.Why was the case filed against the man?The man had got off a bus and was looking for a public toilet. As he could not find one, he went towards a railway track to answer nature’s call.While he was urinating, the complainant happened to walk into the area. The man noticed her and she saw his private parts. She later filed a complaint against him under Section 75(2) of the BNS.The man approached the high court seeking to quash the proceedings. His lawyer argued that the allegations did not satisfy the requirements of the offence as there was no sexual intention behind his conduct.The complainant’s counsel, however, told the court that the man had made certain gestures towards her.Justice M Nagaprasanna examined the evidence and found that the man had been answering nature’s call after failing to find a public toilet. It also noted that the complainant had herself walked into the place where he was answering the call.The court observed that the complaint did not show that the man had acted with any sexual intention.“The petitioner, admittedly, even according to the complaint, was answering nature’s call. Answering nature’s call was after searching for a public toilet all over and not finding it. The complainant walks into the place where the petitioner was answering the nature call, a gesture that the complainant narrates is only shock that the petitioner saw the complainant, as is narrated in the statement itself,” the court said, as reported by LiveLaw.The court said that merely being seen while answering nature’s call could not, by itself, amount to an offence under Section 75(2) of the BNS.“In the considered view of this court, answering a nature call and coming in front of the complainant, at that point in time, would not become an ingredient of outraging the modesty of a woman, as obtaining a 75(2) of BNS,” the court added, as reported by LiveLaw.The high court also considered the allegation that the man had made gestures towards the complainant. It found from the complaint that the gestures were made after the man suddenly noticed her and were a reaction of shock. The court found no material to show that his conduct was sexually motivated.The court therefore held that allowing the criminal proceedings to continue would serve no purpose when the basic requirements of the offence were not made out from the complaint.The high court said allowing the case to continue would amount to misuse of the legal process and lead to injustice. The court accordingly quashed the proceedings against the man.What is Section 75(2) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS)Section 75(2) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) deals with sexual harassment. It covers a man making sexually coloured remarks towards a woman. The provision provides for imprisonment of up to one year, or a fine, or both, for such conduct.
