Overview
- The bench of Justices B.V. Nagarathna and Ujjal Bhuyan on May 29 quashed more than ten criminal proceedings, including POCSO and rape allegations framed under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, and set aside an Allahabad High Court order and Meerut cognisance and summoning orders.
- The verdict found signs of misuse in the case such as nearly identical, verbatim statements by the complainant and the minor that suggested tutoring, and a lack of medical or other supporting material to substantiate the allegations.
- The court directed trial courts to apply rigorous threshold scrutiny before taking cognisance of vague or omnibus complaints and warned that allowing such prosecutions would amount to abuse of the legal process.
- Justices urged members of the Bar to advise clients against filing false or exaggerated criminal complaints and to discourage using criminal law as an arm‑twisting tactic to extract settlements from estranged spouses.
- The judgment stressed that genuine victims of sexual abuse must still receive full protection, noted the wider harms of docket explosion and anticipatory‑bail litigation caused by vexatious filings, and limited its broader observations to the peculiar facts of this case while remaining binding in this appeal.