The Madhya Pradesh High Court has directed penal action against a woman who falsely accused a Senior Advocate of breaking into her house at night and raping her two-year-old daughter..In an order passed on September 8, single-judge Justice Vishal Mishra noted that the woman had made similar frivolous complaints against other persons as well for blackmailing them and hence, she cannot be let off easily."As this Court has already observed herein above that the series of false and frivolous complaints have been made by the complainant against the various persons including the petitioner which after due investigation is found to be incorrect. It appears that the complainant just for settling her score and blackmailing the people is filing false and frivolous complaints...Under these circumstances, the complainant cannot be let off and she should be made to suffer the consequences for making a false complaint against the various persons including the petitioner," the Court stated. Therefore, it proceeded to quash the case against the accused Senior Advocate."Prosecution against the petitioner cannot be permitted to continue even for a minute and it has to be immediately interfered with and subsequent criminal proceedings have to be brought to an end," the Court said..The petitioner, a designated Senior Advocate practicing in the High Court of Madhya Pradesh for more than 20 years, moved the Court alleging that the complainant, a mother of two minor daughters, was in the habit of making false and frivolous complaints of sexual assault against various people, both in her name and in the name of her minor daughters, with ulterior motives..According to the petitioner, the complainant had approached him to file a criminal revision petition in a rape case in April 2024. The plea was drafted and filed by his office in May 2024. However, while preparing the matter for admission, the petitioner claimed he discovered that the complainant had made similar allegations against others in the past. Believing her to be in the habit of filing false cases to blackmail people, the petitioner asked her to engage another lawyer and issued her a No Objection Certificate on September 27, 2024. This refusal prompted the complainant to retaliate by filing false complaints against him, he contended..The petitioner's counsel argued that repeated complaints are malicious and intended to blackmail him. He claimed that the police have already investigated and filed closure reports, consistently finding the allegations to be false and frivolous. The counsel submitted that continuing such proceedings would amount to harassment, cause irreparable damage to his reputation as a senior counsel of the High Court, and tarnish the legacy of his family in the legal profession spanning over 50 years. He has also urged that action be taken against the complainant under Section 22 of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, 2012 (POCSO Act)..The Court observed that despite being notified by the police, the complainant chose not to appear before the High Court. Instead, she seemed to monitor the proceedings and timed her appearance before the trial court immediately after the investigation concluded and the closure report was submitted.This behaviour, the Court noted, indicated a calculated and strategic approach by the complainant.Further, the Court examined the records and found that the complainant had made several such false complaints in order to blackmail people for money or to settle personal scores.Such acts tarnish the image of the accused persons and amounts to abuse of process of law."Under these circumstances, the Superintendent of Police, Rewa is directed to take immediate action against the complainant taking note of Section 22 (1) of the POCSO Act and under Sections 240 and 248 of BNS, 2023 for making false and frivolous complaint against the petitioner in accordance with law," the Court ordered. .[Read Order]
