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UP: Lawyer gets life term for lodging false cases under SC/ST Act
A court sentenced advocate Permanand Gupta to life for filing false rape cases under the SC/ST Act, aided by his associate Pooja Rawat, who was released.
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The court of special judge SC/ST Act here on Tuesday awarded life sentence to advocate Permanand Gupta for lodging false cases of rape under the SC/ST Act with the help of his woman associate who belonged to the Schedule Caste category.
Additional district judge Vivekanand Sharan Tripathi, who is special judge SC/ST court, passed the order. Both Permanand Gupta and his associate Pooja Rawat are already in jail for the past one month.
The court, however, ordered the release of Pooja Rawat as she apprised the court that Gupta misled and used her in lodging fake cases against his neighbour Arvind Yadav and Awadhesh Yadav. Gupta and the Yadav family are residents of Vibhuti Khand in Gomti Nagar.
Permanand Gupta had a property dispute with his neighbours Arvind Yadav and Awadhesh Yadav. Gupta’s wife Sangeeta used to run a beauty parlour where she employed Pooja Rawat. Originally a resident of Gorakhpur district, Pooja came to Lucknow in search of a job.
Gupta misled Pooja to lodge fake FIRs of rape and sexual harassment under the SC/ST Act against his neighbours. The incidents were reported between March 1, 2024 and July 24, 2024. However, during investigation by the Vibhuti Khand police, all allegations levelled by Pooja Rawat were found to be fake.
Government advocate Arvind Mishra, who represented the state government in court, said Rawat had previously lodged 11 similar FIRs, making the current FIR her 12th complaint, all filed through advocate Gupta.
The court noted that Rawat and her counsel were colluding to lodge false FIRs to create pressure on multiple people, aiming to extort money. “The Lucknow bench of the Allahabad high court has already directed the CBI to investigate the matter and submit its report,” Mishra said.
Pooja Rawat and Parmanand Gupta are accused of filing false cases under the SC/ST Act against several individuals including Arvind Yadav, Avdhesh Yadav, Ram Lakhan Yadav, Ram Ujagar Yadav, Lal Ji Yadav, Jitendra Yadav, and Mohit Yadav. Gupta used to dictate statements to Rawat during investigations, Mishra said.
“The case highlights the need for accountability in legal filings and the importance of safeguarding individuals from false accusations. The court’s decision sets a strong precedent against the misuse of legal provisions for personal gains,” said advocate Manoj Tripathi, former district government counsel.
