Calcutta HC: Delay In Filing FIR Cannot Be The Ground For Nixing A Sexual Abuse Case
Editor-in-Chief of indiacommentary.com. Current Affairs analyst and political commentator.
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By Sunil Garodia
First publised on 2022-12-21 03:33:13
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Editor-in-Chief of indiacommentary.com. Current Affairs analyst and political commentator.
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The Calcutta HC dismissed an appeal by a professor and research scholar of Kalyani University (KU) for quashing of a police charge naming them as accused in a sex abuse complaint filed by a student of the university. The appellants argued that since the Internal Complaints Committee (ICC) of the university had investigated the complaint and found them innocent, they cannot be named as accused in the police case as there was delay in filing the FIR.
But the court said that the ICC findings were "illegal and irregular". The court ruled that merely because there was a delay in filing the sex abuse complaint, it cannot be junked or held invalid. The court was of the opinion that the complainant had not received "fair treatment" from the ICC. The Calcutta HC also issued several directions to lower courts like holding sexual offence case hearing in-camera, protecting the victim using various methods like installing screen and not allowing defence lawyers from asking inappropriate questions. It also directed that cross-examination should be completed in one sitting, as far as possible.
The court said that delay in reporting the matter to proper authorities cannot be a ground for dismissing a sexual abuse complaint. It said that the delay could be due to many factors like trauma, fear of stigma and other pressures. It also said that since such complaints are made after much thought, delay is natural. The MPhil scholar had filed a police complaint 29 days after the ICC exonerated the professor and the research scholar.
There are a huge number of verdicts from the Supreme Court and various High Courts that reiterate this fact. In Majeed v. State of Kerala (2012), the Kerala HC had held that "so far as the delay in lodging the FIR is concerned, the delay in case of sexual assault cannot be equated with the case involving other offence". The Bombay HC, in the case Ajay v. State of Maharashtra (2018), had held that "delay in lodging complaint in case of sexual offences is to be considered in favour of the victim if her testimony inspires confidence".
The Supreme Court has always held that delays in filing FIR is cases of sexual assault cannot, by themselves, be a ground for dismissing the case. In Dildar Singh v. State of Punjab, it dismissed a special leave petition by the accused to quash the sentence upheld by the Punjab & Haryana HC on the ground that there was considerable delay in filing the FIR. The court said that the delay in lodging an FIR in sexual offence cases can be due to a variety of reasons. Hence, such delay "cannot be used as a ritualistic formula for doubting the prosecution case and discarding the same" merely on that ground.
Since the judicial view on this matter is clear, advocates representing the accused are both misleading their clients by filing appeals for delay in filing the FIR as they are unlikely to get any relief on this ground and also wasting the precious time of the courts. In the instant case, the role of the ICC of KU should be examined and it should be found out whether it showed favouritism to the accused and denied a fair treatment to the complainant as the Calcutta HC has termed its finding "illegal and irregular". It also raises questions about the efficacy of internal complaints committees in large organizations.
