Bombay HC Nagpur Bench Rules: Mere Use of Abusive Language Doesn’t Attract IPC Section 294
Bombay
The Bombay High Court, Nagpur Bench, held that insulting or filthy words alone cannot constitute an offence under Section 294 of the Indian Penal Code unless both “obscenity” and “annoyance” are specifically proven.
Nagpur| 30 October ,2025: In a pivotal judgment, the Nagpur bench of the Bombay High Court clarified the ambit of Section 294 of the IPC, saying that mere use of insulting, abusive or filthy language is not sufficient to attract the offence.
Justice M. M. Nerlikar, while hearing a criminal writ petition, observed that for Section 294 to apply, two essential ingredients must be established: (a) an obscene act or words done in or near a public place, and (b) the act or words must cause annoyance to others present.
In the case, the petitioner was accused of damaging property and using abusive language against a college principal. While the damage charges remained, the court found that the charge under Section 294 lacked basis because the words used, though humiliating, did not display the quality of “obscenity” nor was there clear evidence someone was “annoyed” by them.
The court emphasised that the law cannot be used to criminalise every case of vulgar or abusive speech unless it meets the threshold set out by the statute. “Merely because the words used may be humiliating or defamatory, those words by themselves are not sufficient to attract the offence under Section 294 of the IPC,” the court ruled.
The judgment carries significant implications for free speech and criminal liability in Maharashtra and beyond, preventing misuse of Section 294 in cases of mere verbal abuse without the required legal ingredients.
