The Karnataka High Court on Tuesday quashed criminal proceedings filed against a man accused of sexually harassing a woman after she came across him attending nature's call near a railway track.

The complainant woman had accused the accused man of exposing his private parts to her and making certain inappropriate gestures at her.

The Court, however, found that it appeared to be a case where the accused man had made some gestures out of shock when he found that the woman had seen him while he was urinating.

Justice M Nagaprasanna opined that this cannot amount to the offence under Section 75 (2) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023 (BNS), which deals with the offence of sexual harassment. The Court, therefore, allowed the accused man's plea to quash the criminal case against him.

"The petitioner admittedly, even according to the complaint, was answering a nature's call ... after searching for a public toilet all over and not finding it ... The gesture that the complainant narrates is only a shock that the petitioner saw the complainant, as is narrated in the statement itself. That would not become in the considered view of this court an ingredient of outraging the modesty of a woman under Section 75(2). Permitting further proceedings at the case at hand on the aforesaid score would on the face of it become an abuse of the process of law and result in miscarriage of justice," it said.

The 26-year-old accused man was was travelling on a long-distance bus when the incident took place. He told the Court that he had deboarded his bus to use the restroom. However, after he was unable to find a public toilet, he proceeded to relieve himself near a railway track.

A 22-year-old woman was walking by when the accused man turned around. The woman claimed that in doing so, he exposed his private part to her and made gestures at her. She proceeded to file a criminal complaint against him for sexual harassment.

Following a police investigation, the accused man was eventually charged for sexual harassment under Section 75 (2) of the BNS. A trial court also took cognisance of the case and summoned him for trial.

The accused man proceeded to challenge these criminal proceedings before the High Court.

The High Court today allowed his plea and quashed the case against him.

Advocate Abhilash HS represented the petitioner (accused man)

Advocate Swati Gopalkrishna appeared for the complainant.