Bombay HC Quashes FIR Against Retd Professor Who Sent Obscene Message To Female Colleague, Claiming To Be Suffering From 'Mental Illness'

The Bombay High Court last week quashed a stalking case against a retired professor, who sent an 'obscene and objectionable' message to a female colleague, after noting that the accused was suffering from 'mental imbalance.'

A division bench of Justices Sarang Kotwal and Shriram Modak noted that the complainant woman, too have given her consent to quash the First Information Report (FIR) that she lodged against him on December 13, 2022 with the Malabar Hill Police station.

"She (Complainant) has stated before the Court that she has understood the mental illness from which the Petitioner is suffering. She stated before the Court that she has 'No Objection' for quashing of the proceedings. It is a fact accepted by her that the message was sent unintentionally when the Petitioner was not in a fit state of mind. In this background, she has given her consent to quash the proceedings. Since she herself is convinced that it was because of the Petitioner's mental illness, this message was sent, no purpose will be served in continuing with the prosecution," the judges recorded in the order passed on March 19.

According to the prosecution case, the petitioner - Kailash Chandak and also the complainant, were colleagues and both were Professors in a reputed college in South Mumbai. However, in 2022, Chandak retired while the complainant secured a job in another institution. It was on December 12, 2022, Chandak sent an obscene and objectionable message to the complainant on her WhatsApp. On receiving the same, the complainant was shocked and on subsequent day, lodged the instant FIR against him.

The Malabar Hills Police Station had therefore, booked Chandak under section 354-D (Stalking) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and section 67 (Transmitting obscene material through electronic device) of the Information & Technology (IT) Act.

In his petition, Chandak, pointed out that he is suffering from mental imbalance and he also relied on the medical report given by a psychologist, to substantiate his claim.

In this view of the matter, the complainant filed an 'affidavit of consent' to quash the FIR stating that she was not aware about his mental state at the time of filing the FIR. 

"Because of mental impairment of his faculties, the Petitioner was unable to judge the right social behaviour and in that state, unintentionally sent the offending WhatsApp message to her. After coming to know about the Petitioner's mental illness, she decided to withdraw her allegations," the bench noted from her affidavit. 

With these observations, the judges quashed the FIR.

Appearance:

Advocate Sanjay Bhatia appeared for the Petitioner.

Advocate Neha Kamble represented the Complainant.

Additional Public Prosecutor BV Holambe – Patil represented the State.

Case Title: Kailash Chandak vs State of Maharashtra (Writ Petition 1419 of 2025)

Citation: 2025 LiveLaw (Bom) 113

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