The Bombay High Court settled the case by imposing a fine of Rs 25,000 on a woman for filing a false complaint of rape against her male friend. The woman had filed a petition in the court saying that she did not want to take the matter further.
A division bench of Justice RD Dhanuka and Justice VG Bisht on Tuesday directed the woman to deposit Rs 25,000 in the Maharashtra Police Welfare Fund within four weeks.
The bench said that if the penalty is not paid then its order to dismiss the FIR lodged against the man will be returned. On March 16, the woman lodged an FIR against her male friend at the Nalasopara police station in Palghar district alleging that she had raped and fed him with a narcotic substance.
After this, the complainant last month moved the High Court to dismiss the case and said that she had filed an FIR under pressure from the family.
The woman said in her plea that she had relations with the man but when her family came to know about it, she concocted the story that the man had raped her. Opposing the petition, Additional Public Prosecutor Aruna Kamat Pai said that the police is investigating the case and will file a charge sheet on it
He said that if the court wants to quash the FIR then heavy penalty should be imposed on the woman. The court accepted this argument and said, “In our opinion, the petitioner’s case cannot be accepted only on the basis that he had filed a complaint under pressure from family members.”
The court said that now that the petitioner does not want to take the complaint further, we quash the FIR but on condition that the petitioner deposit Rs 25,000 in Maharashtra Police Welfare Fund within four weeks.
