Modesty - Definition - Law Dictionary Home Dictionary Definition modesty

Definition :

Modesty, as 'womanly propriety of behaviour; scrupulous chastity of thought, speech and conduct; reserve or sense of shame proceeding from instinctive aversion to impure or coarse suggestions, Oxford English Dictionary (1993 Edn.); Raju Pandurang Mahale v. State of Maharashtra, (2004) 4 SCC 371.

Modesty, as freedom from coarseness, indelicacy or indecency; a regard for propriety in dress, speech or conduct, (Webster's Third New International Dictionary); Raju Pandurang Mahale v. State of Maharashtra, (2004) 4 SCC 371.

Modesty, can be described as the quality of being modest; and in relation to a woman , 'womanly propriety to behaviour; scrupulous chastity of thought, speech and conduct.' It is the reserve or sense of shame proceeding from instinctive aversion to impure or coarse suggestions, Aman Kumar v. State of Haryana, (2004) 4 SCC 379 (389). (Indian Penal Code, s. 354)

--the essential ingredients of the offence under

s. 354, IPC are as under:

(i) that the person assaulted must be a woman;

(ii) that the accused must have been used criminal force on her; and

(iii) that the criminal force must have been used on the woman intending thereby to outrage her modesty. Intention is not the sole criterion of the offence punishable under s. 354 IPC, and it can be committed by a person assaulting or using criminal force to any woman, if he knows that by such act the modesty of the woman is likely to be affected. Knowledge and intention are essentially things of the mind and cannot be demonstrated like physical objects. The existence of intention or knowledge has to be culled out from various circumstances in which and upon whom the alleged offence is alleged to have been committed, Vidyadharan v. State of Kerala, (2004) 1 SCC 215 (221). [Penal Code, 1860, s. 354]

According to Shorter Oxford English Dictionary (Third Edition) modesty is the quality of being modest and in relation to woman means 'womanly propriety of behaviour; scrupulous chastity of thought, speech and conduct'. The word 'modest' in relation to woman is defined in the above dictionary as 'decorous in manner and conduct; not forward or lewd; shamefast'. The ultimate test for ascertaining whether modesty has been outraged is, the action of the offender such as could be perceived one which is capable of shocking the sense of decency of a woman. Alleged act of a person slapping a lady on her posterior amounted to 'outraging of her modesty' for it was not only an affront to the normal sense of feminine decency but also an affront to the dignity of the lady ' 'sexual overtones' or not, notwithstanding, Reopan Deol Bajai v. Kanwar Pal Singh Gill, (1995) 6 SCC 194: AIR 1996 SC 309 (313). (Indian Penal Code, 1860, s. 354)

Modesty, is defined as the quality of being modest; and in relation to a woman, 'womanly propriety of behaviour; scrupulous chastity of thought, speech and conduct, R.V. James Lloyd, (1836) 7 C&P 317: 173 ER 141.

Modesty, is to be interpreted as an attribute associated with female human beings as a class. It is a virtue which attaches to a female on account of her sex, Tarkeshwar Sahu v. State of Bihar, (2006) 8 SCC 560: (2006) 12 JT 559: (2006) 10 SCALE 45: (2006) 7 Supreme 741: (2006) 7 SLT 290: (2006) 10 SRJ 548: (2006) 3 SCC (Cri) 556: (2006) 4 Crimes 171 (SC): (2006) 3 JCC 1735: (2006) 4 Recent CR 603.