S. 353 IPC | Shouting and threatening someone is not the same as assault: Supreme Court

The Supreme Court noted that shouting and threatening someone does not amount to committing the crime of assault.

A bench consisting of Justice Sudhanshu Dhulia and Justice Ahsanuddin Amanullah heard a case where an FIR under IPC Section 353 (Assault) was registered against an employee of the Indian Institute of Astrophysics for shouting and threatening the CAT Staff while examining his discharge records.

Assault is defined in Section 353 of the Indian Penal Code as follows:

“353 Assault – Whoever makes any gesture or preparation, intending or knowing that such gesture or preparation is likely to cause any person present to believe that he who makes the gesture or preparation intends to use criminal force against that person , is ordered to commit an attack.”

After perusing the entire complaint file, the Court held that the High Court erred in refusing to quash the FIR as none of the elements of the offense of assault under Section 353 of the IPC were fulfilled in this case.

“…The only allegation made against the appellant in this complaint is that he shouted and threatened staff. This in itself will not amount to any kind of assault…In our opinion, the High Court erred in not intervening in this matter. This is a case that is nothing but an abuse of legal process and, therefore, in order to achieve the ends of justice, we allow this appeal and quash the entire proceedings initiated against the applicant.”– the court noted.

Therefore, the appeal was allowed.

Case Title: K. DHANANJAY VS CABINET SECRETARY AND ORS.

Click here to read/download the order