Supreme Court quashes rape case against ex-Army officer, says victim has filed 8 similar cases against others

The Supreme Court recently quashed the rape case registered against retired Army officer and author Rakesh Walia by Delhi Police in 2021 [Rakesh Walia v State of NCT of Delhi & Anr]..A Bench of Justice Sudhanshu Dhulia and Justice K Vinod Chandran took note of a pattern of multiple similar complaints filed by the complainant against eight other individuals. “What is most concerning before this Court is that the same respondent has filed nearly identical cases at least against eight other individuals (nine cases in total). These FIRs, lodged in different Police Stations across Delhi, involve offenses under Sections 34, 328, 354, 354A, 354D, 376, 377, 506, and 509 of IPC. The relevant chart detailing these cases, supplied by the appellant, is taken on record,” the Court said..The Court also observed that apart from the complainant’s statements, no other evidence was on record..The complainant, a 39-year-old housewife and former freelance model, had alleged that she was drugged and sexually assaulted by Walia after he lured her with a modeling job opportunity. According to her complaint, she met Walia in December 2021 after connecting with him on Facebook. She claimed that he offered her a spiked cold drink in his car, which caused her to lose consciousness, after which she was molested and raped..However, Walia, who has authored five books, contended that he had only interacted with the complainant for book promotions..The Court found that she failed to cooperate with the investigation after lodging the case and did not even appear before the court despite being served with noticeThe Court thus concluded that the criminal case against Walia was nothing but an abuse of the process of law. It further criticised the Delhi High Court for its refusal to quash the case.“Considering the nature of the case and the cumulative circumstances, we are of the opinion that the criminal case initiated against the appellant is nothing but an abuse of the process of law. This is precisely the nature of case where the High Court ought to have exercised its inherent powers under Section 482 CrPC (as per new act, under Section 528 B.N.S.S.) and should have quashed the proceedings,” the top court said. .Consequently, the Court quashed the case registered against Walia at Mehrauli Police Station.Advocates Ashwani Kumar Dubey, Adwait Ghosh and Chandra Shekhar represented the accused.Additional Solicitor General Brijender Chahar with advocates Mukesh Kumar Maroria, Raman Yadav, Advitya Awasthi, Santosh Kumar, Nar Hari Singh, Sarthak Karol and Amit Sharma V represented the respondents..[Read Judgment]