False Rape Case; Accused has a right to be protected against false implication; Delhi HC

Delhi High Court on an appeal against conviction for rape, acquitted five men who were sentence to imprisonment for life under Section 376 of IPC, finding that they were falsely implicated. Speaking on the plight of such rape accused facing trial for false charges, the court said "There is no doubt that rape causes great distress and humiliation to the. Speaking on the plight of such rape accused facing trial for false charges, the court said "There is no doubt that rape causes great distress and humiliation to the victim of rape but at the same time false allegation of committing a rape also causes humiliation and damage to the accused. Her version has no correlation with other supporting material being medical, scientific and expert evidence.”The court relied on the Supreme Court Judgement in Raju v. State of Madhya Pradesh, where court held that “testimony of the victim of a rape cannot be presumed to be a gospel truth and observed that false allegations of rape can cause equal distress, humiliation and damage to the accused as well” The High court maintains the view that it is a settled principle of law that conviction can be based on the sole testimony of the victim of sexual assault without corroboration from any other evidence.