**Supreme Court Quashes Rape FIR Against Government Employee, Citing Act of Vengeance**
*Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh):* The Supreme Court (SC) has quashed a rape FIR lodged against a government employee from Jabalpur, ruling that the complaint was filed as an afterthought and an act of revenge.
The case involved a woman who worked alongside the appellant, Assistant Revenue Inspector Suresh Khawse, as a computer operator in the Suhagi civic body. Khawse had challenged a judgment dated January 27, 2025, by the High Court, which had refused to exercise its powers under Section 482 of the Criminal Procedure Code to quash the FIR and the charge sheet.
A bench comprising Justices Sanjay Karol and N. Kotiswar Singh observed that the woman, who has a son from a previous marriage, lodged the complaint against Khawse only after he filed a complaint against her with the municipal authorities.
The bench noted,
*”The fact that the subject FIR was only lodged after the issuance of a show-cause notice, which obviously has large real-world implications insofar as the complainant is concerned, leaves open a gaping possibility that the same was lodged as an afterthought and was a vehicle for vengeance for the impending consequences.”*
According to the facts of the case, Khawse and the complainant were colleagues whose relationship had developed into a physical one. The woman claimed that she had made it clear to Khawse that she was married and had a son, and that he had assured her they would eventually marry.
Relying on the promise of marriage, she filed an FIR on October 13, 2023. However, Khawse had already filed a complaint with the Adhartaal police station in Jabalpur on April 24, 2023. In his complaint, he alleged that the woman had repeatedly threatened to kill herself, come to his residence, hurled abuses, and even consumed rat poison.
Khawse also reported the matter to the municipal authorities, who subsequently issued a show-cause notice to the woman, directing her to rectify her behaviour.
The Supreme Court’s decision underscores the importance of scrutinizing the timing and motivations behind criminal complaints to prevent misuse of legal proceedings as a tool for personal vendetta.
https://www.freepressjournal.in/bhopal/act-of-vengeance-why-supreme-court-quashed-rape-fir-against-govt-employee