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Supreme Court Of India

(From : Kerala)*

Hon'ble Judge(s): Doraiswamy Raju, Arijit Pasayat , JJ

(A) Criminal P.C. (2 of 1974) , S.154— Penal Code (45 of 1860) , S.354— Delay in lodging - Offence of outraging modesty of woman - FIR lodged on next date - Delay in lodging FIR quite natural in a traditional bound society to avoid embarrassment which is inevitable when reputation of a woman is concerned - Delay properly explained - Not fatal - Only unexplained delay in lodging FIR can be a ground to arouse suspicion. (Para 9) (B) Penal Code (45 of 1860) , S.354— Outraging modesty of woman - Plea of false implication on ground of communal enmity - Hardly tenable, since in conservative society woman would not be used as pawn to wreck vengeance - Courts have a duty to make deeper scrutiny of the evidence and decide acceptability or otherwise of the accusation - Prosecution witness is an independent witness and a neighbour of both the accused-appellant and victim - No reason as to why he would falsely implicate the appellant - No false implication established. (Para 9) (C) Penal Code (45 of 1860) , S.354— Outraging modesty of woman - Essential ingredients of offence - Mere knowledge that the modesty of a woman is likely to be outraged is sufficient - Intention is not the sole criteri....