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XYZ vs State of Madhya Pradesh & Ors

Criminal Appeal · 2022 INSC 799Decided 5 Aug 2022
Criminal Appeal No. 1184 of 2022

Background

The appellant, a yoga instructor at a Gwalior institute, alleged that the institute's Vice-Chancellor touched her inappropriately in March 2019. Despite multiple complaints to the police over several months, no FIR was registered, and an internal committee separately found her allegations established. When she approached the Magistrate under Section 156(3) CrPC seeking a police investigation (including CCTV footage the institute said had been handed to the Vice-Chancellor but never returned), the Magistrate instead converted her plea into a private complaint case requiring her to lead evidence herself, and the Madhya Pradesh High Court upheld this.

Decision Breakdown

The Supreme Court held that once a complaint discloses a cognizable offence, the police must register an FIR, this is settled by the Constitution Bench in Lalita Kumari, and a Magistrate's "discretion" under Section 156(3) CrPC is not unfettered but must be exercised judicially. Since the Magistrate himself found a prima facie case, and since key evidence (the CCTV DVRs) was outside the complainant's control and only the police could retrieve it, the Court held the Magistrate was duty-bound to order a police investigation rather than push the complainant into proving her case privately. It set aside the High Court's judgment and directed the JMFC to order an investigation, to be supervised by a woman officer of at least Superintendent of Police rank, while reiterating that courts must handle sexual harassment complainants with sensitivity throughout the process.

Lesson Learnt

When a complaint of sexual harassment or assault discloses a cognizable offence and important evidence is not in the complainant's own possession, a Magistrate should direct the police to investigate rather than relegate the complainant to proving the case herself, and courts at every stage must treat such complainants with sensitivity, not added procedural burden.

Official source (sci.gov.in)View Judgment (PDF)

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