For Offence U/S 504 IPC, Insult Must Provoke Complainant To Breach Public Peace Or Commit Offence: J&K High Court

The Jammu & Kashmir High Court, in a recent judgment, quashed the complaint and proceedings against an accused, holding that the provisions under Sections 504 and 506 of the Indian Penal Code were not substantiated by the complaint's allegations. Moreover, the complaint must specify the actual words used to insult.” The court emphasized that a mere assertion of insult without detailing the language or context fails to meet the statutory requirement under Section 504. For the charge under Section 420, IPC, relating to cheating and dishonest inducement, the court referred to the Supreme Court rulings in Hridaya Ranjan Prasad Verma & Ors vs. State of Bihar and Anr and Vesa Holdings Private Limited and Another vs. State of Kerala & Ors, underscoring the principle that intent to deceive must be present at the inception of the transaction. In Hridaya Ranjan Prasad Verma, it was held, that “To hold a person guilty of cheating, it must be shown that he had fraudulent or dishonest intent at the time of making the promise.” Similarly, in Vesa Holdings, the Court maintained that an offense of cheating cannot arise from a mere failure to honour a subsequent commitment unless deceptive intent existed initially. Applying this reasoning, the High Court concluded that the complaint lacked allegations sufficient to infer an initial intent to cheat, thus invalidating the charge under Section 420.