NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court has quashed criminal proceedings against an advocate accused of criminal intimidation in a sexual assault case, holding that vague and belated allegations, coupled with an “improved” statement of the prosecutrix, were insufficient in law to put him on trial.
A Bench of Justices Aravind Kumar and Prasanna B. Varale allowed the appeal filed by Bеri Manoj and set aside an order of the Andhra Pradesh High Court, which had declined to quash the proceedings at the pre-trial stage.
The appellant had been arrayed as accused No. 5 in an FIR registered in 2022 under Sections 328, 376 and 506 of the Indian Penal Code read with Sections 3 and 4 of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act.