Sexual Harassment Cases Can’t Be Quashed Based On Compromise: Supreme Court

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Thursday quashed the Rajasthan High Court’s decision to give relief to a teacher accused of sexually harassing his minor Dalit student based on compromise between the accused and the survivor.

The bench, comprising Justices CT Ravikumar and PV Sanjay Kumar, stated that the FIR and criminal proceedings be proceeded with in accordance with law.

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The verdict came after an appeal was made in the 2022 harassment case of a 15-year-old girl, which led to a FIR based on the father’s complaint.

However, a compromise was subsequently reached between the girl’s family and the accused, who got a statement from the minor’s family on a stamp paper. The statement said that they registered a complaint following a misunderstanding and no longer wished to take action against the teacher.

Based on the same, the accused, Vimal Kumar Gupta, moved the Rajasthan High Court to quash the case. The High Court accepted the plea, and the criminal case that invoked the POCSO Act and SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act was quashed.

After an unaffected third party and a social worker, Ramji Lal Bairwa, filed a petition raising an objection to the High Court’s order, the case reached the apex court.

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“The impugned order is quashed and set aside, FIR and criminal proceedings be proceeded with in accordance with law. We have not commented on the merits of the matter,” the court observed.

The court also ordered that the accused and the survivor’s father be made a party to the case.