Our Blog

In general, it can be said that abuses are those words that are too bad for the ears and, of course, do not correspond to the values of society. In a conservative society like ours, such abuses or offensive remarks should have no place on the social spectrum. But the socio-cultural mixing of conservative Indian culture with the opening of Western culture has led to a new hybrid culture in which mutual abuse is quickly becoming the accepted norm. Various examples of Western influence can be seen in movies and other media that contain unlimited abuse, drug use, etc. Indian viewers, especially the younger generation, watch such movies and feel that this is something that can be made open. This thing is not a problem at the initial stage, but if it worsens to the point that people, even young children, consider it normal to abuse someone, whether publicly or even privately, it raises serious problems, because it not only threatens the peace and order of society, but also deteriorates the quality of the population and threatens the future of the nation. Therefore, it is on the agenda to regulate and prevent such behavior, at least in public places. Therefore, it was probably obvious to the Claimant that he could get away with his abusive language on the telephone, because he is accustomed to such behaviour. However, the Supreme Court`s position is likely to result in at least a change in the public behaviour of Indians, or at least that particular Indian. In our daily lives too, we hear many words that are offensive in nature, but we somehow ignore them to deal with them, but in cases where a person deliberately uses offensive or offensive words to humiliate or provoke a person, he is said to be committing an offence under Section 504 of the Indian Penal Code. To constitute an offence under this section, the following must be proved: It states that any act in a public place considered obscene under section 292 of the Indian Code of 1860 is punishable. It should be noted that we usually associate obscenity with nudity or any action that awakens sexual pleasures in a person.

In its current form, it seems to exclude offensive words from the realm of obscenity. But if you look further at the term “obscenity,” you will find that obscenity encompasses the depiction of people, mostly women, in a pejorative way, which is similar to what is done when one person hurls insults at the other. Moreover, the effects of disseminating obscene material are the same as disseminating offensive language: it aggravates the image of the victim and creates a feeling of hatred and hostility in society. Therefore, even launching abuses can be considered an obscene and punishable act under Section 294 of the Indian Code of 1860. It should be noted that in Criminal Review No. 175/2010 with the title [Jaichand vs State Of Maharashtra], decided on 31.03.2010, the Nagpur Bench of the Bombay High Court ruled that verbal abuse need not take place in a public place to punish the offender in accordance with Section 294 of the Indian Code of 1860. This means that if a person mistreats another person while on their own premises, they can be charged with spreading blasphemies under this section. Section 354 of the Indian Code of 1860 defines that any person who attacks a woman or engages in acts of criminal violence with intent to be indignant, or knowing that he is likely to be indecent off, shall be punishable by both imprisonment and a fine.

Gratuitous injury, any flagrant violation of law or decency, anything that offends feelings, passionate or violent behavior or language, anger or insolence, exposes violence or serious humiliation, anger or insult, anger, shock, violation of law, decency, feelings, etc. grossly or shamelessly; raping a woman. Modesty is to women what perfume is to flowers. Modesty is an attribute associated with women as a class. Modesty is defined as the quality of being humble and, in relation to women, “feminine decency of behavior, conscientious chastity of thought, speech and behavior.” Webster`s New International Dictionary of English Language expands the definition of “modest” by adding “to observe decency, free from excessive familiarity, indecency, or lust.” It goes without saying that insults hurled at a woman or involving a woman`s name or representation will certainly scandalize her modesty. Although modesty has not been clearly defined in the Code, it often refers to a woman`s dignity, respect and reputation, and any word or gesture that violates women`s dignity can and should be punished. To commit an offence under this section, one must insult. The term “insult” means that the words used must be such as to disregard or demean a person`s dignity. These words even include the everyday slang that people use in their daily lives, such as – bastard, stupid and so on. In order to present a case under that section, it would be necessary to decide whether or not the use of such words resulted in an intentional insult. No person shall be liable under this section unless an insult was intentional. Now the main question arises, how to determine whether the insult was intentional or not? So the answer to that question is that intent to offend is a matter of facts and circumstances that vary from case to case and situation to situation.

The nature of the insult is a question of fact rather than law. The insult provoked must constitute a provocation to disturb public order. For example, if the accused abused the plaintiff in a manner involving the chastity of his mother or sister, such an act falls within the scope of In re Karumuri Venkatratnam, (1947) 1 MLJ 359. It should be noted here that the above provision can also be applied in simple cases of abuse, when a person mistreats someone in public or, as noted above, even in private. There may be a situation where abuse is given by a person to his own family member, mainly by a husband to his wife, and this abuse reaches such alarming levels and becomes so recurrent in nature, that it can be considered an act of cruelty inflicted by a husband on his wife. The victim may request the assistance of Article 498-A Indian Panel Code, 1860 to punish the oppressor.