The Karnataka High Court has quashed a Section 509 IPC prosecution against two accused after finding that the complaint and investigation material did not disclose the offence’s required ingredients.
Justice S. R. Krishna Kumar allowed Criminal Petition 4343/2026 on September 16.
The complaint alleged abusive remarks and body-shaming during a Bengaluru incident. Examining the FIR, charge sheet and witness statements, the court held that the material did not establish the statutory offence of words, gestures or acts intended to insult a woman’s modesty.
The bench said the alleged comments about physical appearance, on the material in this case, were insufficient to sustain that charge.
A third accused had already obtained quashing in proceedings arising from the same incident. The court found the allegations against all three identical and applied parity as an additional basis for relief.
The proceedings were quashed insofar as the two petitioners were concerned. The order concerns the evidentiary and legal requirements of this particular Section 509 prosecution.