The Kerala High Court on Thursday, 13 October, expunged the controversial remarks made by a sessions judge while granting bail to writer and activist Civic Chandran in a sexual harassment case, stating that a woman's clothing does not "absolve an accused from the charge of outraging (her) modesty," reported LiveLaw.
The high court, however, upheld the anticipatory bail granted to Chandran by the Kozhikode sessions court on 12 August, dismissing two petitions challenging the same. "In these circumstances, I am of the view that even though the reason shown by the Court below for granting anticipatory bail cannot be justified, the bail order cannot be set aside."
"The dressing of a victim cannot be construed as a legal ground to absolve an accused from the charge of outraging the modesty of a woman. The right to wear any dress is a natural extension of personal freedom guaranteed by the Constitution and a facet of the fundamental right under Article 21 of the Constitution. Even if a woman wears a provocative dress, that cannot give a licence to a man to outrage her modesty."Justice Kauser Edappagath said, according to LiveLaw