It is settled law that words which are common in nature and words of common colloquial are not obscene words, the court said.

The Chhattisgarh High Court acquitted a man accused of using obscene words in public, observing only words related to sex or moral are obscene words.

Relying on witnesses’ testimony that the accused abused the complainant in a public place using words ‘madar chod’ and threatened that he will bury her body, the trial court convicted him under Sections 294 and 506 Part-II of the Indian Penal Code.

On his appeal against conviction, Justice Ram Prasanna Sharma observed that the words used by the accused ‘are common in nature and words of common colloquial are not obscene words’. In the present case, the words used by the appellant cannot be termed as obscene words because the same is used frequently and unintentionally, the court said observing that only words related to sex or moral are obscene words.

“For commission of offence mens rea is an essential part and if any word is uttered unintentionally it cannot be said that there is an intention to commit any criminal act. Looking to the words as stated by the witnesses it cannot be held guilty for commission of offence under Section 294 IPC,” the court said acquitting him of the offence.

The court also acquitted him of the offence of intimidation observing that mere uttering of the words is not sufficient to constitute the offence but it has to be established that the accused was in a position to execute the threat on the spot.

When the appellant was not having any arms at the time of commission of offence or soon shown determination as to how he will be able to kill the complainant, the words are not sufficient to constitute the offence under Section 506 Part II of the IPC, the court said while setting aside the trial court order of conviction.