The Allahabad High Court, in a ruling last week, directed the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to investigate a woman and her counsel for filing ‘false’ FIRs against individuals on serious charges, including rape.
A bench comprising Justice Vivek Chaudhary and Justice Brij Raj Singh observed that the informant and her counsel were evidently colluding to file false FIRs against multiple individuals with the intent of extorting money from them.
The division bench issued this order while hearing a criminal writ petition filed by Arvind Yadav and another individual, who were facing an FIR under Sections 64, 74, 115(2), 316(2), 324(4), 333, 351(3), 352 of the BNS, 2023, along with Section 66D of the IT Act, 2008.
Before the Court, the petitioners’ counsel argued that the informant/victim in the case had a pattern of filing false complaints and FIRs, having lodged as many as 11 such cases against multiple individuals. The latest, and 12th, FIR was now filed against the petitioners.
The petitioners’ counsel also presented details of 11 other FIRs, asserting that all the complaints filed by the informant/victim were initiated through the same lawyer.
Conversely, the AGA argued that these complaint cases were being registered under various offences and that the present FIR was part of the same pattern.
Additionally, it was submitted that the informant’s counsel had also filed multiple criminal cases and FIRs against different individuals.
Given the gravity of the allegations regarding the informant/victim repeatedly filing multiple criminal complaints of a similar nature through her counsel against numerous individuals, the court found it appropriate to direct the CBI to investigate the matter and submit a report by April 10.
In light of this, the court ruled that until further orders, the petitioners shall not be arrested unless there is sufficient and credible evidence establishing their involvement in the offences alleged in the FIR.