Rathnavath Dharmendar v. Rathnavath Gopal
In the High Court of Telangana
Criminal Petition 6399/2021
Before Justice K. Surender
Decided on January 24, 2023

Relevancy of the case: Petition to quash proceedings in a case registered by the father against his son for calling 60 times and verbally abusing him on the phone

Statutes and Provisions Involved

• The Information Technology Act, 2000 (Section 67)
• The Indian Penal Code, 1860 (Section 294B)
• The Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 (Section 506)

Relevant Facts of the Case

• The petitioner is the respondent’s son. On August 09, 2020, he repeatedly called his father and abused him.
• The father went to the police station to file an FIR. The police officer registered the FIR under Section 294B of the Indian Penal Code, 1860, and Section 67 of the Information Technology Act, 2000.

Prominent Arguments by the Advocates

• The petitioner’s counsel submitted that the chargesheet mentions that he called for 60 times. However, the call detail records are not available.
• The respondent’s counsel submitted that the father didn’t need to file the complaint. However, since the son called 60 times and kept threatening, he filed the complaint.

Opinion of the Bench

• The offences committed were verbal threats and abuse on the phone call. Here, neither Section 294B of the Indian Penal Code, 1860, nor Section 67 of the Information Technology Act, 2000 are applicable.
• The investigation agency could have considered using Section 506. However, for that to happen, verbal abuse has to take place in public. Moreover, the respondent did not specify the type of abuses uttered. The mere use of foul language does not attract an offence under Section 506.

Final Decision

• The court quashed the proceedings against the petitioner.

Risha Thomre Rajani, an undergraduate student at NMIMS Kirit P. Mehta School of Law, Mumbai, prepared this case summary during her internship with The Cyber Blog India in May/June 2023.