Lucknow Advocate Gets Life Sentence for Fabricating SC/ST Cases Using Dalit Woman’s Identity
According to investigators, Gupta filed at least 18 false cases himself and forced the dalit woman, to lodge 11 additional cases against his opponents.
LUCKNOW– In a landmark judgment, a Special Court in Lucknow has sentenced advocate Parmanand Gupta to life imprisonment for orchestrating a conspiracy to file dozens of false cases under the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act. The court found that Gupta misused the identity of a Dalit woman to lodge fabricated cases against his rivals, including allegations of rape and molestation.
According to investigators, Gupta filed at least 18 false cases himself and forced the dalit woman, to lodge 11 additional cases against his opponents. Most of these cases targeted one family, including businessman Arvind Yadav, with whom Gupta had a long-standing property dispute.
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The fabricated complaints included serious charges of sexual assault, harassment, and land grabbing. However, police found that the woman was not present at the alleged crime scenes and that the property she claimed was “snatched” was still under construction by Yadav’s family.
Special Judge (SC/ST Act) Vivekanand Sharan Tripathi convicted Gupta under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) Sections 248 and 217 for making false charges and giving false information, along with Section 3(2)(5) of the SC/ST Act.
The court awarded Gupta life imprisonment and imposed a fine of ₹5.10 lakh. Delivering a strong message, Judge observed: “Just as a few drops of sour liquid can spoil an entire ocean of milk, allowing such misuse of the law can damage the credibility of the judiciary and weaken public faith.”
The Dalit woman, who initially acted as co-accused, later admitted she had been coerced into filing false cases. On August 4, she sought mercy from the court and was granted conditional pardon and bail, with the warning that any future misuse of protective laws would not be tolerated.
In addition to the punishment, the court issued directives aimed at preventing similar misuse in the future.
The judgment has been forwarded to the Bar Council of India and the Bar Council of Uttar Pradesh to debar Gupta from legal practice.
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The Lucknow Police Commissioner was instructed to adopt AI-based monitoring tools to track repeated misuse of SC/ST-related FIRs.
Legal experts say this ruling is one of the strongest judicial responses to the growing concern over misuse of the SC/ST Act. While the law was enacted to protect marginalized communities from discrimination and violence, this case highlights the damage caused when it is exploited for personal or financial gain.
The verdict has been welcomed by many in the legal fraternity, with calls for stricter scrutiny of repeat complainants while ensuring genuine victims continue to receive the law’s full protection.
