Kochi: The Kerala High Court has held that in criminal cases, including sexual crimes, there is no presumption that the woman complainant's version is the 'gospel truth.' 

"There cannot be any unilateral investigation of the case put up by the complainant alone, merely because the de facto complainant is a lady. There is no presumption that, in all cases, her version is the gospel truth, and the police cannot proceed based on her statement alone without considering the statement of the accused,” the court said.

"Nowadays, there is a tendency to implicate innocent people in criminal cases with serious allegations of sexual assault," it said in its order.

The observations by Justice P V Kunhikrishnan came while granting anticipatory bail to a man accused of sexually harassing a former woman employee. In this particular case, the police did not investigate the accused's initial complaint that the woman had verbally abused and made threats against him after he fired her for not working properly, the court said.

The court further added that if the police find that the allegations of such women against men are false, "they can very well take action against the complainants also" as the law permits it.

The court also said that the damages caused to a citizen because of false implication cannot be compensated by payment of money alone. "His integrity, position in the society, reputation, etc, can be ruined by a single false complaint. The police authorities should be alert and vigilant to find the truth in criminal cases during the investigation stage itself.

Hence, it is the duty of the police to separate the chaff from the grain before submitting final reports in criminal cases," the court added.

In this particular case, the woman had alleged that the accused, who was the manager of a company where she worked, grabbed her arms with sexual intent. On the other hand, the accused had complained to the police about the woman's verbal abuse and threats and also gave a pen drive containing an audio recording of what she had said, according to the court order.

The court said it was a fit case where the investigating officer (IO) ought to have probed the accused's complaint also. The court directed the accused to produce the pen drive before the IO and ordered the officer to investigate. "...if the de facto complainant (woman) is found to have submitted a false case against the petitioner (accused), appropriate action, in accordance with law, should be taken," the court said.

It directed the accused to appear before the IO for interrogation and said that if he was arrested, then he shall be released on bail on executing a bond for a sum of ₹50,000 with two solvent sureties each for the like sum.

The other bail conditions included appearing before the IO as and when required, cooperating with the probe and not influencing or intimidating witnesses in the case.
(With inputs from LiveLaw)