The Bombay High Court has observed that no offence can be made out against a man who was merely watching women at a bar dance obscenely.
Quashing the FIR and the proceedings that were going on against the man before a local court, the high court observed that the petitioner was not found to have been doing any explicit act that could demonstrate an external manifestation of the term ‘encouraging’.
According to the details, based on a tip-off, a raid was conducted at a Sea Princess Bar and Restaurant in February 2016 in which police recovered some objectionable items.
During the raid, the police also saw women masquerading as waitresses dancing obscenely and customers throwing Indian currency notes towards them.
At the spot, the male stewards and waiters were collecting the money while the customers were encouraging the dancing women to make obscene gestures while dancing.
The 37-year-old petitioner was found to be one of the customers watching the obscene dance and acts of the women, following which a case was registered at a local police station in Mumbai under Sections 294 (obscene acts and songs) and 114 (abettor present when offence is committed) read with 34 (common intention) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) along with a section of the Maharashtra Police Act.
A two-judge bench Justices AS Gadkari and Neela Gokhale went through the details of each of the two sections, 294 and 114 and said that to attract the ingredients of these offences, it is necessary that, the accused person indulges in doing any obscene act in a public place or singing, reciting or uttering any obscene song in or near a public place.
“There is no material on record to indicate that, the petitioner who is either doing any obscene act or singing or uttering any obscene song. There is only a generic statement pertaining to the customers found in the Bar and Restaurant that they were enjoying the show and ‘encouraging’ the women artistes. The Petitioner is not found to have been doing any explicit act that can demonstrate an external manifestation of the term ‘encouraging’. He was not found to be throwing notes of Indian currency at the dancing women. Furthermore, there is also no material to suggest that, the petitioner was an abettor present when the offence was committed,” observed the bench.
The bench observed that another bench of the high court had earlier held that, persons cannot be prosecuted for merely being present in the Bar and Restaurant at the relevant time when no specific overt act is attributed to them. The bench said that this was applicable in this case too.
Source Agencies
