In a recent ruling, a sessions court made it clear that a woman's state of intoxication "does not provide any justification for her male friend to exploit her vulnerable condition." The court upheld the conviction of a man who attempted to kiss the victim and resorted to violence by slapping her when she rejected his advances.

The case involved an appeal filed by the accused, Sandeep Gupta, against his conviction by a Mahila Court on February 5, 2019, under sections 354 (pertaining to assault or criminal force to a woman with the intent to outrage her modesty) and 323 (relating to voluntarily causing hurt) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).

"The prosecution has proved that the appellant (Gupta) has used criminal force against the complainant knowing that he will thereby outrage her modesty by trying to kiss her and also voluntarily caused hurt to her by slapping her," the judge said in a recent order.

He said the magisterial court had "rightly convicted" him of the offences under IPC sections 354 and 323.

The court rejected the defense counsel's argument, which questioned the absence of medical evidence demonstrating that the victim had been physically assaulted. It also took into account the fact that the victim did not undergo a medical examination, purportedly due to her intoxicated state.

"Mere slap to a person is sufficient to make out a case for the offence under section 323 of the IPC

"Even if it is presumed that the complainant was more interested in meeting and talking to the appellant, that does not mean that the appellant could have taken the liberty of trying to kiss her and on her refusal/ disinterest in the same, could have slapped her," it said.

The court, however, acquitted Gupta of the charge under IPC section 506, saying the prosecution failed to prove that he had criminally intimidated the complainant. it said.

"Similarly, even if the medical examination of the complainant showed that she was drunk at that time, that in itself would not have been of any consequence as the intoxication of a lady does not give licence to her male friend to take undue advantage of her condition," the court said.