The Gujarat High Court in a hearing on July 16, observed that asking a woman her name or phone number is inappropriate, but cannot be termed sexual harassment.

A case was registered against Gandhinagar’s Sameer Roy for asking for the name and phone number of a woman.

According to reports, a sexual harassment complaint was made against Sameer Roy on April 26 under IPC Section 354A.

Roy, challenging the complaint, filed a petition in the High Court and claimed that the FIR registered against him was a conspiracy by the police to take revenge.

Roy claimed that the police had tortured him on Apr 25, and when he complained about it, the police confiscated his mobile, cleared off the data, and registered a false complaint against him.

In his petition, Roy stated that he came to know about the complaint on May 9.

Over this, the HC questioned the actions taken by the police. Justice Nirzar Desai observed, “Even if the things written in the FIR are true, asking for a woman’s number by a man cannot be termed sexual harassment. It should not be processed under Section 354A.”

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