Allahabad High Court takes firm stand against ‘fake’ rape cases, calls for action against victims who turn hostile

The Allahabad High Court had recently expressed concern over false rape cases in the state, saying it should be stopped and action taken against those who lodge such complaints.

“Every other day, cases like this are filed in court, where FIRs are initially lodged under Section 376 of IPC, POCSO Act and SC/ST Act, investigations continue and money and time are wasted. In such cases, The victim’s family also received money from the government, but as time passed and after the trial began, they joined opposing parties and became hostile or did not support the prosecution’s version,” bench of Justice Shekhar Kumar observed. Yadav added that this was also a waste of time and resources of the investigating agency.

The High Court is dealing with the bail application filed by the accused in the rape case. The case was registered under Sections 376D and 506 of the Indian Penal Code and relevant sections of the POSCO Act. The defendant’s lawyer asked for bail in court, arguing that he was falsely implicated in the case.

The lawyer also highlighted the delay in filing the FIR and pointed out that the victim had not given any explanation for this. The lawyer pointed out that there were contradictions in the victim’s statements under Articles 161 and 164 of the Criminal Procedure Code.

During the trial, the victim admitted that the defendant and co-accused did not take her to the fields and did not commit the alleged rape, the lawyer said, adding that, therefore, she was declared hostile.

Taking into account the facts and circumstances of the case, the court granted bail to the accused without commenting on the merits but ordered that if any compensation received from the government on the side of the victim should be returned to the interest. It also asked the lower courts concerned to initiate proceedings against the victim if it is found that a case was registered wrongly.

“A copy of the order shall be sent to the concerned lower court and the district magistrate and if the current FIR is found to be false, the money received by the victim shall be recovered as income and deposited into the government account and the concerned department. The lower court shall be responsible to the victim and its parties to take action and institute proceedings,” the high court said.