The Kerala High Court has urged the Police Officials to act without apprehensions against women falsely implicating men in sexual assault cases.

The Court was considering a bail application under Section 482 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS), 2023.

The single-bench of Justice P. V. Kunhikrishnan observed, "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. If the police find that the allegations of such women against men are false, they can very well take action against the complainants also. The law permits for the same. But some of the police officers are not ready to take such action, apprehending that it will backfire on them. No such apprehension is necessary. The court will take care of the interest of such officers, if their findings are correct."

The Petitioner was represented by Advocate R. Anas Muhammed Shamnad while the Respondent was represented by C.S. Hrithiwik.

Facts of the Case

The Criminal Case registered against the Petitioner alleges an offence punishable under Section 75(1) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), 2023. The prosecution case was that, on December 20, 2024, the accused, who is the Manager of a Company in which the de facto complainant was working, grabbed the victim by his arms with sexual intent and committed the offence.

Reasoning By Court

The Court was of the opinion that the Petitioner can be released on bail after imposing stringent conditions and granted liberty to the investigating officer to freely investigate the case untrammeled by any observation.

It Court also re-iterated the well-accepted principle that bail is the rule and jail is the exception and cited Supreme Court's ruling in Chidambaram. P v. Directorate of Enforcement, Siddharth v. State of Uttar Pradesh and Another and Manish Sisodia v. Central Bureau of Investigation.

Additionally, the Court highlighted the issue surrounding tendency to implicate innocent people in criminal cases with serious allegations of sexual assault and stressed that criminal investigations shouldn't be one-sided. It placed upon the Police, the responsibility to thoroughly check the authentication of such allegations and take appropriate actions against those levelling false allegations.

"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. Nowadays, it may take years to consider the case of such innocent persons by a court of law, if a charge sheet is filed. In such situations, the investigating authorities should think twice before registering and filing charge sheets in such cases," the Court observed.

It pointed out that the court is burdened with several cases in which serious questions of law and facts are involved and hence, it is the duty of the police to separate the chaff from the grain, before submitting final reports in criminal cases.

The Application was accordingly allowed.

Cause Title: Noushad K vs. State of Kerala (2025:KER:16338)

Appearances:

Petitioner- Advocate R. Anas Muhammed Shamnad, Advocate T.U. Sujith Kumar, Advocate C.C. Anoop, Advocate Thareek T.S., Advocate Hamdan Mansoor K., Advocate Dheerendrakrishnan

Respondent- C.S. Hrithiwik

Click here to read/ download Order





Kerala High CourtJustice PV Kunhikrishnan

Sheetal Joon