The Kerala High Court has held that in criminal cases, including sexual crimes, there is no presumption that everything the complainant woman says is "gospel truth" as nowadays there is a tendency to implicate innocent people in such matters.
The observations by Justice P V Kunhikrishnan came while granting anticipatory bail to a man accused of sexually harassing a former woman employee.
The high court said that in the instant case, the police did not investigate the accused's initial complaint that the woman had verbally abused and made threats against him after he fired her for not working properly.
The court said that investigation of a criminal case means probing the case of the complainant and the accused.
"There cannot be any unilateral investigation of the case put up by the complainant alone. Merely because the de facto complainant is a lady, there is no presumption that, in all cases, her versions are gospel truth, and the police can proceed based on her statement without considering the case of the accused.
"Nowadays, there is a tendency to implicate innocent people in criminal cases with serious allegations of sexual assault," it said in its order dated February 24.
The court further said that if the police find that the allegations of such women against men are false, "they can very well take action against the complainants also" as the law permits it.
The court also said that the damages caused to a citizen because of false implication cannot be compensated by payment of money alone.
"His integrity, position in the society, reputation, etc, can be ruined by a single false complaint. The police authorities should be alert and vigilant, to find the truth in criminal cases during the investigation stage itself.
"Hence, it is the duty of the police to separate the chaff from the grain, before submitting final reports in criminal cases," it said.
In the instant case, the woman had alleged that the accused, who was the manager of a company where she worked, grabbed her arms with sexual intent.
On the other hand, the accused had complained to the police about the woman's verbal abuse and threats and also gave a pen drive containing an audio recording of what she had said, according to the court order.
The court said it was a fit case where the investigating officer (IO) ought to have probed the accused's complaint also.
It directed the accused to produce the pen drive before the IO and ordered the officer to investigate the same.
"...if the de facto complainant (woman) is found to have submitted a false case against the petitioner (accused), appropriate action, in accordance with law, should be taken," the court said.
It directed the accused to appear before the IO for interrogation and said that if he was arrested, then he shall be released on bail on executing a bond for a sum of Rs 50,000 with two solvent sureties each for the like sum.
The other bail conditions included appearing before the IO as and when required, cooperating with the probe and not to influence or intimidate witnesses in the case.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
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