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Can you sue someone for false accusations?

Is it possible for you to sue someone if they falsely accuse you?

By Ayush RanjanPublished 3 years ago 3 min read
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Being in a country ruled by coded laws, there have been many cases of law being misused and a false case being set up against a person. The law which is misused the most is Anti Dowry Act and sexual harassment prevention law. It is misused mostly to register false cases and blackmail the person into giving financial incentives. Indian Court system has failed to provide remedy to all those people who are falsely accused.

Although there are genuine cases taking place, but it is also misused a lot. So, the question here is, if you are falsely accused of doing something, can you sue for false accusation?

The short answer is yes, you can sue someone for false accusations they have made against you. They can be sued for Perjury, False claim and false accusations. But the devil lies in the details. There are usually 3 types of ending to a case when someone is accused for something: –

Proven beyond reasonable doubt.

Not proven beyond reasonable doubt.

False prosecution case.

You can only sue someone if the court reaches the 3rd verdict, i.e. you have been falsely implicated in the case and no proof or witness exists that says otherwise.

What happens in most cases is that the prosecutor proves the accused guilty beyond a reasonable doubt or it couldn’t prove it beyond a reasonable doubt. In the latter case, you still cannot sue someone for false prosecution because the court didn’t acquit you on the basis that you had not committed the crime, you were freed because the prosecutor failed to provide enough witness or proofs to convict you of the charge.

Always remember that Indian law works on the principle that 100 criminals can be let go but 1 innocent shouldn’t be punished. So, unless the court is very sure that you have committed the crime, you will not be convicted.

You can only sue in the case when the court was sure that there is no way that you may have committed the crime you are being accused of. If it’s not clear, you can neither sue for false accusation nor you can be prosecuted.

This is the main reason why most women walk free even after accusing someone falsely. They somehow make their case but cannot prove it beyond a reasonable doubt.

Another way to get back at someone who falsely accused you is by suing them for perjury. It means that they lied in a court of law which is a punishable offense.

Under common law, to constitute defamation, a claim must generally be false and must have been made to someone other than the person defamed. Some common law jurisdictions also distinguish between spoken defamation, called slander, and defamation in other media such as printed words or images, called libel. In the United States, false light laws protect against statements which are not technically false but are misleading.

The most recent example can be taken of MJ Akbar, This ex-minister was accused of sexual misconduct by several females who had worked with him or under him. This man then filed a defamation case against the woman who accused him. He lost the case. The judge threw out his case on the testimony of another journalist who accused MJ Akbar of the same thing.

We can see clearly from this case that if you do not have solid proof, it is very difficult to get someone convicted for defamation.

Meaning of some legal terms used: –

Perjury – Lying in a court of law.

Prosecutor – A person who institutes legal proceedings against someone.

Prosecution – Conduction of legal proceedings against an individual.

Acquit- Free someone of a legal charge.

Convict- A person who is guilty of a criminal offense.

innocence
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