SC accepts woman's apology for wrong statement against IPS officer

A woman, who had filed a case against an IPS officer accusing him of raping her, on Wednesday tendered an unconditional apology to the Supreme Court for making the wrong statement that she was hit by a car and he was responsible for it.

She had alleged that she was struck by a car on October 17, 2019 and clearly expressed her suspicion that the officer, of West Bengal cadre, was guilty for it. The top court had, however, noted that she was not hit by a car but by a 'thela' or cart and said it "prima facie means that the allegations in her sworn statement before this Court were not truthful".

During Wednesday's proceedings, the woman appeared before a bench of Chief Justice S A Bobde and Justices B R Gavai and Surya Kant.

The court noted her presence and said, "The petitioner...has appeared before us and tendered an unconditional apology. It seems that she has been mentally disturbed and resorted to psychiatric care.

"In the circumstances of the case, we accept her unconditional apology and discharge the notice issued to her vide order dated December 10, 2019. The suo motu Contempt Petition stands closed accordingly," the bench said.

The apex court had on December 10 refused to transfer to a central agency the investigation of a case filed by the woman.

Delhi Police had registered two FIRs in the case.

The first FIR was filed by the woman alleging rape by the IPS officer whom she met on Facebook. The second FIR was filed by the officer's mother alleging that the woman and her family members had been pressurising his family to pay Rs 15 lakh, failing which they were threatening to file cases against them with allegations of rape and other crimes.

The apex court had said there was "nothing substantial" which could either show that the investigation was not well-directed or had failed to look into a particular direction.

The top court had directed the Registry to record the matter as suo motu and send a copy of the order to the woman and ordered her to appear in-person before it on January 14.

Delhi Police had earlier filed the final charge sheet against the IPS officer over a year after the woman accused him of raping her.

The Delhi-based woman had in 2018 accused the officer of raping her on the pretext of marriage.

According to the charge sheet, the woman and the IPS officer became friends on Facebook and within a few months of chatting and video calls, the IPS officer met her in Delhi on January 28.

The woman alleged that he kept promising that he would marry her.

On their first meeting, the two went to a mall in Vasant Kunj for dinner.

The next day they met again. She alleged that during the second meeting he offered her some chocolates laced with liquor and the woman felt dizzy after consuming them after which he brought her to a hotel and started making advances.

Though she tried to resist the sexual advances, he continued, the woman had said in her statement which is also mentioned in the charge sheet.

After allegedly raping her, the officer apologised and reassured the woman that he would marry her, the charge sheet said.

After returning to West Bengal, he continued to be in contact with the woman for some time but started ignoring her when she kept reminding him of the marriage promise. He also blocked her on all social media platforms and refused to marry her, according to the charge sheet.

The woman approached police with her complaint in May last year and a case was registered at the Barakhamba Police Station.

However, the case was transferred to the Crime Branch.

The woman had alleged police inaction in the case and filed a writ petition in the apex court saying the investigation was not being carried out properly and the accused was misusing his position as an IPS officer and got false cases registered against her, her mother and also against her brother in Sonipat.