In an unprecedented move, the Delhi High Court imposed a fine of Rs 50,000 on a woman for filing a false complaint of sexual harassment against her senior official. In a one of a kind move, the court chose to rectify the false accusations against an innocent man, who has been immersed in the proceedings since 2011.
While delivering the judgment, Justice JR Midha said, “There is no merit in this writ petition which is dismissed with cost of Rs. 50,000 to be deposited by the petitioner (woman) with the Delhi High Court Advocates Welfare Trust within four weeks.”
The writ petition had challenged a 2012 order of an internal complaint committee (ICC) and also sought that the retirement benefits of the man be withheld. The woman had also sought direction to the organisation to initiate an independent departmental enquiry against the man to also prosecute him.
In 2011, the woman had alleged that the man, her senior in her workplace, had misbehaved and made sexual advances towards her.
To examine the woman’s allegation of sexual harassment, an ICC was constituted wherein the man had refuted the allegations, claiming that the woman held a grudge against him and so was initiating a false complaint. According to the man, he had disposed off some official work without her presence and so the woman took great offence in it.
After examining the situation, the ICC could not conclusively find proof in the allegations against the man. It established that “exact content of communication of the incident could not be established” and hence gave the man the benefit of doubt. It had further recommended relocating both the woman and the man from their present posting.
The high court went through the proceedings of the ICC and was of the view that the woman’s complaint is false.
The court said, “The petitioner has not mentioned the alleged comments of respondent no. 3 (man) in the complaint on the ground of modesty. The petitioner did not even disclose the alleged comments before the committee. No reason or justification was been given by the petitioner for not disclosing the same before the committee. The entire complaint of the petitioner appears to be false and has been filed with some ulterior motive.”
Moreover, the woman had also stated in her complaint that the alleged incident took place in the presence of several other staff members. However, during the inquiry proceedings, she failed to mention the name of any such witness.
After going through the matter in detail the court established that the woman’s complaint is false and directed her to pay costs amounting to Rs 50,000. The court also said the organization where the woman was working, can initiate appropriate action against her, in accordance with the law for “filing a false compliant” against the man.
The numbers of cases wherein the women file false sexual harassment against men on the basis of some grudge are on a rise. By initiating proceedings for sexual harassment, the women have nothing to lose if it turns out to be false. The women will walk free and their repute will also be protected, courtesy of Sec 228A of the IPC. This is why; false cases of rape are on a rampant rise. According to a report by the Delhi Commission for Women published in 2014, 53% of the rapes reported in Delhi are false. This is extremely disheartening as the men suffer a great deal due to false accusations. By this judgment, Delhi High Court has set a good precedent for accountability in such cases, which will serve as deterrence to those women who initiate false sexual harassment complaints to fulfill their ulterior motives.