The High Court of Gujarat is to decide whether a couple kissing in office can be considered to be engaging in a private act.
Another issue the HC will decide is whether the couple can allege breach of privacy by expecting to not be observed by anyone when the office is under CCTV surveillance.
Justice Nikhil Kariel framed the issues for determination in a case involving a Venezuelan engineer, who was working with Tamboli Castings Ltd in Bhavnagar. The woman has charged the company’s director Vaibhav Tamboli & his father Bipin Tamboli with watching & leaking the images & the clip of her allegedly kissing a colleague who is a Tamboli family member. This colleague & the rest of the Tamboli family had a fallout after he allegedly stabbed his brother Vaibhav during company’s board meeting last year.
The Venezuelan engineer filed an FIR with Vartej police on Jan 19 against the Tambolis for leaking the footage. They were booked under Section 354-C of the Indian Penal Code, for voyeurism & also booked under the provisions of the Information Technology Act for leaking the footage.
The father-son duo approached the High Court for quashing the FIR. Their Lawyers Mahesh Jethmalani & Ajay Choksi submitted that kissing does not fall in the definition of ‘private act’ as stated in Explanation-1 of Section 354-C of the IPC. A person cannot expect that he/she will not be observed in an office which is covered by CCTV cameras.
Moreover, the advocates alleged that the complaint by the Venezuelan engineer was a counterblast to the FIR against Mehul Tamboli for the alleged act of stabbing his brother. The engineer was on good terms with him & she has maliciously filed the FIR, the lawyers said.
After a preliminary hearing, the High Court issued a notice to the state CID (crime) seeking a reply by June 20. The Court ordered cops not to take any coercive action against the accused till then.
While staying the arrest, the High Court framed questions for determination. One was whether the gesture of kissing in office was a ‘private act’ according to the IPC. Another was whether a person can expect not to be observed in his/her private act committed in an office space which is under CCTV surveillance. Yet another was whether the images captured in the camera & allegedly circulated contain material which has lascivious appeal or contain sexually explicit material. The court is to decide on whether watching a couple kissing in an office space, which is under CCTV cover, forms an offence of voyeurism.
Court stays probe over rape charges: Justice Nikhil Kariel on Tuesday stayed the CID (crime) from probing the allegations of rape under Section 376 of the IPC against Vaibhav & his father Bipin Tamboli. It stayed an order passed in March by a sessions court in Bhavnagar on the Venezuelan engineer’s demand to add rape charges in the FIR for voyeurism. The Tambolis’ advocates submitted that the engineer had made a rape complaint much before the FIR for voyeurism was filed, but it was not registered.
They also said that it was a false charge. The HC has admitted the petition & sought the Govt’s reply by July 20.
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