'Wearing short clothes not a crime...': Court acquits 7 women
What's the story
A Delhi court has acquitted seven women accused of performing an obscene dance at a bar, allegedly to the annoyance of the public.
The women were booked under Section 294 of the Indian Penal Code, which makes any obscene act done at a public place to the annoyance of others, a punishable offense.
Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate Neetu Sharma pronounced the judgment on February 4, saying the prosecution failed to prove any offense was committed.
Police scrutiny
Court criticizes police for lack of public support
The case was registered on the complaint of a Sub-Inspector who claimed to have seen the dance while patrolling.
However, the court observed the officer didn't allege the dance annoyed anyone else.
Two prosecution witnesses confessed they were at the bar to enjoy and knew nothing about this case.
The court slammed police for fabricating a story without public support and emphasized the lack of evidence proving the officer was on duty at that time and place.
Investigation flaws
Court questions lack of public involvement in investigation
The court also wondered why no public persons were roped in the investigation when they were present in the vicinity.
It said, "There would have been shops/house in which several persons would be available. Nothing was prohibiting the police from asking persons of shops/houses, at least they could not have left without giving names & address."
The court added police witnesses didn't claim they ever made any such effort, concluding they were not reliable witnesses.
Manager's acquittal
Bar manager acquitted due to lack of evidence
Further, the bar manager was also acquitted of not maintaining CCTV cameras as mandated by an ACP order.
The prosecution failed to establish that this order was published or known to the accused.
The court also found no evidence that the bar was operating without proper licensing or in violation of government guidelines.
Thus, due to a lack of evidence, both the parties, including the women and the bar manager were acquitted by the court.