E-Paper
Man gets 5.6 years of prison term for filing false SC/ST case
The CO also found that the maternal uncle of Om Shankar Yadav, Kamlesh Yadav, was murdered by associates of Vikas Kumar on February 19, 2018.
A special court here awarded five years and six months of prison term to a man for lodging a false FIR under the stringent SC/ST Act against four individuals to deter one of them from pursuing a murder case.
The court also imposed a fine of ₹10,000 on the accused, one Vikas Kumar from Sevai under the PGI police station limits, and failure to pay fine would result in three additional months of imprisonment. The judgement was given by additional district judge Vivekanand Sharan Tripathi.
Kumar had lodged an FIR on June 29, 2019, at the PGI police station against Om Shankar Yadav and Akhilesh Pal of Basti district, and Arun Kumar and his wife Neetu Yadav of Sant Kabir Nagar, accusing them of issuing threats and grabbing his three bigha land in the PGI area in the state capital.
During investigation, then circle officer Beenu Singh came to find that Vikas Kumar had lodged a fake FIR against all four persons.
Singh also found that the maternal uncle of Om Shankar Yadav, Kamlesh Yadav, was murdered by associates of Vikas Kumar on February 19, 2018.
As Om Shankar was pursuing this murder case, Vikas Kumar lodged a fake FIR to deter him from pursuing the case.
Singh submitted a final report in court against Vikas Kumar under section 182 of the IPC.
Section 182 of the IPC deals with giving false information to a public servant (like police or a magistrate) with the intent to make them use their lawful power to injure or annoy another person, punishable with up to six months jail, a fine, or both.
“Vikas Kumar was convicted for filing a false SC/ST Act case. He was sentenced to 6 months (Section 182 IPC) and 5 years (Section 211 IPC) of imprisonment, along with a ₹10,000 fine. All sentences will run concurrently,” said government advocate Arvind Mishra, who represented the state government in court.
“If any relief was granted under SC/ST Rules 1995 [to Vikas Kumar], it should them be revoked,” observed the court.
The court observed that the legislature never intended for taxpayer money to be used as relief/compensation for false FIRs filed by mischievous individuals under SC/ST Act.
Relief provisions
Relief provisions under the SC/ST Rules, 1995 are structured (10% to 25% on FIR filing and 50% on charge sheet submission) to prevent their misuse and ensure victim’s safety.
Court’s directive
The court directed the district magistrate, Lucknow, to provide full relief amount (as per SC/ST Rules 1995) only upon charge sheet submission, not on FIR registration. Provide immediate aid (medical, food, shelter, etc.) as per Section 15A(11) of SC/ST Act, but no cash compensation on FIR registration, the court said.
No compensation if final report (FR) is filed due to lack of prima facie evidence. Compensation will only be considered if the court summons the accused for trial.
