Recently, the Supreme Court of India had clarified legal definition of assault by declaring that raising voices and threats to others were not punishable under Section 353 IPC. This judgment followed an appeal filed by an employee of the Indian Institute of Astrophysics, who was accused of assaulting some employees during the inspection of documents related to dismissal.
Case Background
It came up for hearing before Justice Sudhanshu Dhulia and Justice Ahsanuddin Amanullah. An FIR was also lodged against the employee. He was charged under section 353 of the Indian Penal Code, which pertains to assault on public servants. The complaint said he hollered and threatened employees during his inquiry over his dismissal.
What does Assault Mean?
According to section 353 of the IPC, assault means:
“Whoever makes any gesture, or any preparation intending or knowing it to be likely that such gesture or preparation will cause any person present to apprehend that he who makes that gesture or preparation is about to use criminal force to that person, is said to commit an assault.”
This definition focuses on the fact that there must be a physical action or gesture that leads to a fear of immediate bodily harm.
Court Observations
The Supreme Court mentioned that the case did not involve the allegations required for assault under law. The court noted:
“The only allegation against the appellant in the said complaint is that he was shouting and threatening the staff. This itself will not amount to any assault.”
It remarked that the High Court was wrong not to quash the FIR for it was an abuse of law process. In this case, the three judges reminded the court that since essential elements of Section 353 assault were not present, the proceeding against the appellant was not warranted.
Conclusion
And for this reason, it only permitted the appeal and directed to quash all these proceedings initiated against the said employee of the Indian Institute of Astrophysics. Indeed, this judgment is more of a clarification on how assault is defined under the Indian law, which thereby also gives the message that pure verbal threats or shouting should not be considered as any offence.
This decision has stressed the strict following of legal definitions while pleading assault cases and has not made people face the laws for no reason at all.
