Workplace reprimand not a criminal offence, says apex court

A senior's reprimand at the workplace does not amount to an "intentional insult," warranting criminal proceedings against the former, the Supreme Court has ruled,

- Utkarsh Anand

NEW DELHI: emphasising that interpreting penal provisions otherwise would have "disastrous consequences crippling the entire disciplinary atmosphere required in the workplace".

The top court clarified that proceedings under Section 504 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) cannot be invoked unless it is proven that the rebuke was intended to provoke the subordinate to commit an offence or breach public peace, underlining that any other interpretation "may lead to gross misuse of liberty in workplaces". The offence, punishable with a jail term up to two years, has been replaced with Section 352 under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) - effective from July 2024.

A bench comprising justices Sanjay Karol and Sandeep Mehta delivered this ruling while quashing a 2022 criminal case against the officiating director of the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), who was accused of insulting an assistant professor. The complainant had alleged that the director reprimanded her in a loud voice for having submitted complaints against him to higher authorities, which allegedly caused her emotional distress and aggravated her medical condition post-Covid-19.