Delhi Court Convicts Former Airline Official For Outraging Colleague's Modesty

Lalit D'Silva, former Regional Manager (India) of an international airline, was convicted on Wednesday, September 16, by Delhi's Patiala House Court for outraging the modesty of one of his junior colleague during his posting in Delhi.

Lalit D'Silva was convicted by Metropolitan Magistrate Dev Saroha, who stated that there are no other witnesses to the incident and the complainant's testimony cannot be "disbelieved", NDTV reported.

"To conclude, it is proved beyond a reasonable doubt that the accused uttered some words with the intention to outrage the modesty of the complainant, as such he is liable to be convicted under section 509 of Indian Penal Code (IPC)," the court stated.

The court posted the arguments on the quantum of sentence on November 17, following the pronouncement of the judgment.

The prosecution said that on October 8, 2009, the complainant was called by the accused in his room, where he outraged her modesty by asking "unappreciated" questions.

The accused in his defence claimed that the complainant falsely implicated him when she had failed to get herself transferred back to Delhi station from Cochin, to where the company had transferred her.

"The complainant has stated that immediately after the incident she made a complaint to a number of her seniors and waited for an action to be taken against the accused, who is a senior employee of the company. She was thoroughly cross-examined by the defence. She has further stated that only after realizing that no action will be taken against the accused she made a formal complaint," the court noted.

"The complainant has been consistent in her explanation regarding the delay. Being a woman in a social setting like ours, she is often subjected to much pressure in matters like these. In the present case, not only the social dignity of the complainant was on line but also there must be some professional considerations, the accused being a senior officer of the company and her boss. Thus, the explanation given by the complainant is believable," it said.

Advocate Ajay Verma, representing the complainant, claimed that instead of getting support from the airline, the victim was removed from service.

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