Punjab and Haryana High Court directs strict action against false sexual harassment complaints to protect innocent victims

Saurabh Malik

Chandigarh, August 2
The Punjab and Haryana High Court has called for strict action against the filing of false sexual harassment complaints, emphasising that such practices must be curbed to protect innocent victims and deter wrongful accusations.

The assertion came as Justice Harpreet Singh Brar made it clear that the investigating agency should not hesitate to prosecute complainants in such matters.

“The court could not remain a silent spectator to such manifestly frivolous and vexatious instances of false implication. In fact, the court is duty bound to look into such cases with extra care and scrutiny in order to protect innocent citizens,” the Bench asserted.

Justice Brar also asked Haryana DGP to look into credentials of a woman, order probe into sexual harassment allegations levelled by her, and find out the number of similar-nature complaints filed by her in Punjab, Haryana and Chandigarh. In all, 19 complaints were found to have been filed by the woman in Jind alone.

“In case the allegations levelled by the petitioner are found to be false and manipulated, the Haryana DGP is directed to take strict action against her, in accordance with law,” the Bench observed. The direction came after the Bench took note of multiple cases with similar facts and allegations before the court in the recent past in Sirsa, Jind, Kaithal and Chandigarh.

“Unsubstantiated, sweeping allegations cannot be taken up on face value, especially when the conduct of the complainant seems dubious,” the Bench added.

Justice Brar also condemned the unscrupulous practice of using criminal prosecution to extort money from unsuspecting victims, adding that the courts were required to separate the chaff from the grain to ensure that the stream of justice was not clogged by ill-intended, vexatious proceedings.

Justice Brar added stooping to such practices indubitably had wider ramifications as it became increasingly difficult to distinguish between genuine and false cases. It made people glaringly insensitive to genuine plight and misery, resulting in the privation of compassion towards them.

Justice Brar asserted sexual harassment caused great distress and humiliation to the victim. At the same time, false implication could cause equal distress, humiliation and damage to the reputation of the accused and his family.

Referring to a Supreme Court’s decision to underscore that reputation was a key component of an individual’s right to life under Article 21, Justice Brar asserted false implication’s impact was deeply stigmatic and created psychological burden on the individual portrayed as an accused. He was doomed to live in under constant fear and anxiety due to humiliation brought about by the blemish of being a perpetrator of a sexual offence.