Bombay HC fines woman for filing false rape case

Observing that it cannot accept the contention of a woman that she filed a false rape case against her boyfriend, the Bombay High Court, on Tuesday, imposed a fine of Rs 25,000 on her. The HC has also quashed the FIR lodged by the woman against her boyfriend at Nalasopara.

A bench of Justices Ramesh Dhanuka and Virendrasingh Bisht, has ordered the woman to first pay the Rs 25,000 fine to the Maharashtra Police Welfare Fund and only then the FIR would be quashed.

According to the FIR lodged with Tulinj police station, Nalasopara east, the woman was in a relationship with her boyfriend and the couple even maintained physical relations. However, to protect herself from the wrath and anger of her elder sister, the woman cooked up a fake rape story and lodged an FIR against her boyfriend in March this year.

However, in July, she ‘amicably settled’ the matter and even filed an affidavit giving a no-objection to quashing the FIR.

But her request was vehemently opposed by public prosecutor Aruna KamathPai, who urged the bench to impose hefty fine on the woman for filing a fake rape case. She highlighted the fact that due to this fake case, the police machinery was set into motion.

Having noted the submissions, "In our view the case of the petitioner (woman) cannot be accepted simpliciter that the complaint was filed by her due to pressure of the family members. However, since she does not want to pursue the said complaint, we are inclined to quash the said FIR."

"However, the FIR will be quashed on the condition that she pays costs of Rs.25,000 to

Maharashtra Police Welfare Fund within four weeks from today without fail," the judges added.