Sexual Harassment Over Facebook: Uttarakhand HC directs accused to plant 50 trees as condition for quashing case

On July 19, the Uttarakhand High Court directed a man accused of sexually harassing a woman over Facebook to plant 50 trees, at his own cost, as a condition for quashing proceedings against him. Justice Sharad Kumar Sharma said, “But, composition in itself should carry a lesson for the applicant that in future he would not engage himself in such types of offences and he should reckon how to acknowledge the sanctity of a friendly relationship.”

The complainant alleged that after she accepted the accused’s friend request on Facebook, he started sending “indecent photographs and videos, which were objectionable.” An FIR was registered against the accused and the investigation revealed that the allegations against him were prima facie found to be true. Thus, the accused was booked u/s 354A of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and u/s 67(a) and 67 of the Information Technology (IT) Act. Subsequently, a chargesheet was filed against the accused and a summons was issued to him.

Thereafter, the applicant moved the Uttarakhand High Court u/s 482 of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC), seeking to quash the criminal proceedings against him. Thereafter, the parties filed an interim application for compounding the offences before the court. The parties also submitted their affidavits to the same.

The court, upon interaction with the complainant, found that the accused has rendered an apology to the complainant and thus, the complainant does not intend to pursue the case further. However, the government’s counsel has opposed the accused’s compounding application as sexual harassment u/s 354A of the IPC is not compoundable, while the offences under the IT Act are compoundable.

The court noted that the offence of sexual harassment is not compoundable; however, the court also considered that the complainant has accepted the accused’s apology. The court noted that the complainant does not intend to prosecute the accused further, as the accused is known to the complainant’s family.

“Owing to the aforesaid statement made by the complainant respondent No. 2, this Court is of the view, that looking to the nature and gravity of offences and also coupled with the fact, that the parties have close affinity with one another, owing to their relationship which they have developed on Facebook, coupled with the fact, that the applicant was known to the family members of the complainant, in order to maintain peace and harmony amongst themselves, the Compounding Application is required to be considered by this Court in the exercise of its powers under Section 482 of CrPC,” the court said.

However, the court said that there must be a lesson for the accused that he does not engage in such behaviour in the future and “he should reckon how to acknowledge the sanctity of a friendly relationship.”

Thereafter, the Uttarakhand High Court quashed the case against the accused, however, since the offence is non-compoundable, the court directed the accused to plant 50 trees as a condition. The court directed the accused to plant 50 trees in an area as identified by the District’s Horticulture Department at his own cost. The court further said that the accused must plant the trees under the Horticulture Department’s supervision and the proceedings against him would be dropped after the Horticulture Department submits a certificate issued for such plantation.

The court further held that if the accused does not comply with the court’s directions within a month, the criminal proceedings against him would be revived. Furthermore, the court said that if a Horticulture Department officer issued a fraudulent certificate, the same would be “criminally dealt with in accordance with law.” The court concluded, “Owing to above, the matter is compounded and the C482 Application would stand disposed of accordingly.”