However, the court said the complaint remained silent on how and when these offences were committed. (Express file photo) However, the court said the complaint remained silent on how and when these offences were committed. (Express file photo)

Stating that filing a criminal case against anyone is a “serious matter” and frivolous complaints should be “nipped” in the bud, a Delhi court dismissed eight applications which sought registration of an FIR against Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and other AAP leaders for filing “false” election affidavits. Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate (ACMM) Samar Vishal said that such a complaint should be allowed only after close scrutiny, else it would “jeopardise the life and liberty of a person against whom such complaint is filed”.

“An application of registration of FIR cannot be allowed for mere asking. The complainant has to make out a case, for it as per law. As the present complaint is nothing but sheer abuse of the process of the court, it cannot be allowed. Complaints like the present one need to be identified and nipped in the bud, so that the wheels of justice should not clog and the stream of justice does not pollute,” said the ACMM.

The court said the complainant, Rahul Sharma of NGO Road Anti-Corruption Organisation, “invokes serious charges” against the AAP leaders, but does not disclose “anything” substantial in his complaint. As per court records, the complainant said the respondents “…filed false affidavit in order to give false information before public servants and perjured before the Election Commission in order to mislead the public”.

The complaint also said the respondents knew that the contents of the affidavits were “not true”, and the accused person intentionally hid “essential and correct information” regarding their properties. The complainant sought registration of an FIR under offences like criminal breach of trust, cheating, fraud, forgery, misleading the EC.

However, the court said the complaint remained silent on how and when these offences were committed. “Merely saying that the affidavit was false will not set criminal law into motion. Details of the offence has to be mentioned in the complaint, which has not been done. This has made the complaint totally frivolous, vague and devoid of merits,” said the court.

The court said that even procedurally, it is not maintainable. It explained that giving false information to a public servant amounts to an offence under IPC, but an FIR cannot be registered as it is a non-cognizable offence. Further, cognizance can be taken only when a complaint by a public servant is received, which was not the case here, it said.

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