The Delhi High Court recently flagged concern about the growing trend of lodging false complaints of sexual offences and its impact on society [Sanoj Kumar Mishra vs State of NCT of Delhi and Anr]..Justice Girish Kathpalia observed that such false cases have to be dealt with sternly, since they cause immense damage not just to the person who is falsely accused but also to genuine victims of sexual assault.The Court made the observation while granting bail to a film director after a woman who accused him of rape later retracted her allegation. “This is yet another case, reflecting the recent trend of lodging false complaints of sexual offences. Every false complaint of sexual offences not just causes immense damage to the person accused of the offence, but also creates cynicism and distrust across the society, which leads to even the genuine victims of sexual offences suffer, as society starts suspecting her truthful complaint also to be false. Such false complaints have to be dealt with sternly,” the Court said..The case against the film director was filed by an aspiring actor, who claimed that the film director sexually exploited her, blackmailed her and raped her. The director denied these allegations. His anticipatory bail plea was rejected by the High Court earlier, leading to his arrest in March. Later, a Sessions Court rejected his regular bail plea, prompting the director to move the High Court for bail. .During the police investigation, the complainant retracted her earlier allegations. She told the police that there was no rape and that she had been in a consensual relationship with the film director for five years. She conceded that she had filed a false complaint against the director after being provoked to do so by his rivals. .She also filed an affidavit before the High Court, confirming that her earlier allegations were false. On the basis of this testimony, the High Court granted the film director bail. The police also informed the Court that they started the process of registering a criminal case against the complainant and other persons who conspired to lodge false rape case against the film director..Senior Advocate Amit Chadha with Advocates Hirein Sharma, Aamir Chaudhary, Hayas Singh, Sarthak Sethi and Sakshi Yadav appeared for the film director. .Additional Public Prosecutor Nawal Kishore Jha appeared for the State..[Read Order]
