Punjab and Haryana High Court news: Holding that use of the expression “f*** off” in a workplace email though “uncouth and discourteous” does not amount to sexual harassment , the Punjab and Haryana High Court has quashed an FIR alleging sexual harassment, ruling that criminal liability under the provision requires a clear sexual element and not merely offensive language. Justice Kirti Singh was hearing a petition seeking the quashing of an FIR registered in Gurugram in March 2019 against a private company director accused of sexual harassment of a former employee. “The same (remark), though undeniably uncouth and discourteous, does not, in its ordinary sense, carry any sexual overtone or insinuation, directed at the modesty or sexuality of the complainant,” the court said on April 18, adding that it “lacks the essential ingredients of Section 354A IPC .” Justice Kirti Singh dierected the petitioner to deposit Rs 20,000 in the Poor Patient Welfare Fund at PGIMER, Chandigarh within one month.…