Delhi HC orders man accused of sexual assault to do community service

The man had earlier reached an amicable settlement with the accused and subsequently moved the court to quash the FIR.

New Delhi: The Delhi high court has asked a man to do community service on weekends for a month and imposed a cost of ₹35,000, as the condition for quashing an FIR registered against him for groping a woman and outraging her modesty. The man had earlier reached an amicable settlement with the accused and subsequently moved the court to quash the FIR.

The Delhi HC also imposed a cost of ₹35,000 on the accused. (Picture for representation only)

The FIR claims that the accused allegedly groped and forcefully kissed his tenant when she went to the bathroom on July 26, 2016. The complainant said she didn’t make any noise due to fear and went to her room.

The woman claimed that on July 28, 2016, the accused again allegedly misbehaved with her and tried to outrage her modesty, following which she approached the Gandhi Nagar police station.

In April 2019, both the parties made an amicable settlement and moved the court seeking quashing of the FIR.

On January 20 this year, the complainant told the court that the accused has sought for her forgiveness. She said she has forgiven him for his misdeeds and does not intend to proceed with the matter any further.

Noting the submission, justice Subramonium Prasad, while quashing the FIR, directed the man to do some community service “to atone for his sins” and also warned not to repeat such actions in the future.

“Accordingly, the petitioner is directed to do community service at Lok Nayak Jai Prakash Narayan Hospital on every Saturday and Sunday for one month i.e. from February 1, 2022 to March 2, 2022. He shall report to the Medical Superintendent, Lok Nayak Jai Prakash Narayan Hospital on February 1, 2022,” the court noted in its order.

The court asked the accused to file a certificate from the medical superintendent of Lok Nayak hospital after completion of one month to show compliance of the order.

“In case of any absenteeism/default or any misbehaviour on the part of the petitioner, the same shall be conveyed immediately by the Medical Superintendent, LNJP, to the concerned SHO, who shall in turn inform the counsel for the State, for bringing the same to the notice of the court and for seeking recall of the orders passed today (January 20),” the judge added.

Meanwhile, on January 3, the same judge directed two persons to do community service at Safdarjung hospital änd GTB Hospital for a month in exchange of quashing an FIR where they had beaten people with wooden rods in the Punjabi Bagh area in 2016.

The court said that considering that both the accused were aged 25-26 years and that they have amicably solved the matter, it would not be appropriate to keep the FIR pending.

The judge, however, directed the accused to do social service “so that they can understand the pain and suffering of an injured victim and hope that they will not indulge in such activities in future”.

“The petitioner No 1 is directed to report to the medical superintendant, Safdarjung Hospital, and the petitioner No 2 is directed to report to the medical superintendent, GTB Hospital, on January 15, 2022. It is directed that the petitioners shall do the work assigned to them and on completion of their one month community service from January 15 to February 15 in the concerned hospitals, the petitioners shall obtain a certificate from the medical superintendant concerned and file the same in the registry of this court to show compliance,” the judge noted in his order.