A Lucknow court on Tuesday sentenced lawyer Parmanand Gupta to life imprisonment for filing false rape cases under the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act. .Special Judge (SC/ST Act) Vivekanand Sharan Tripathi noted that Gupta had used a Dalit woman to file nearly a dozen FIRs and several court cases against individuals with whom he had personal enmity or wanted to extract money. The Court sentenced him to life imprisonment for the offence under Section 3(2)5 of the SC/ST Act. He was also awarded jail sentences of one year and ten years for offences under Sections 217 and 248 respectively of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS).He was also slapped with a fine of ₹5.1 lakh, and the sentences have been ordered to run separately. “All sentences will run separately. First sentence under section 217/49, then sentence under section 248/49 BNS and then sentence under section 3 (2)5 SC/ST Act will have to be served. The period already spent in jail will be included in this sentence,” the Court ordered. .The conspiracy came to light when the Allahabad High Court heard a case seeking the quashing of an FIR registered under the provisions of rape by one Pooja Rawat against two people. On March 5, the Court noted that a large number of similar cases have been filed by Rawat and her counsel Gupta. It ordered a CBI probe into the matter. The CBI revealed that as many as 11 FIRs were registered by Rawat and 18 cases were filed by Gupta. Rawat later turned approver and revealed that she worked in a salon run by Gupta’s wife and that the lawyer, knowing that she belonged to the SC community, used her to file cases against his opponents..After considering the case, the Court observed that if it does not stop advocates like Gupta from entering legal profession and practicing law, public's faith in the Indian judiciary will be seriously affected. Therefore, it said that a convicted criminal like Gupta must not be allowed to be in the court premises “so that the purity of judiciary is maintained”. “To this effect a copy of the information and decision should be sent along with a letter to the Bar Council of Uttar Pradesh, Allahabad.”Judge Tripathi acquitted Rawat but warned that if she misuses the SC/ST Act in future, strict action would be taken against her. .[Read Judgment]
