BENGALURU, 28 APRIL

The High Court has quashed an FIR against Infosys co-founder Kris Gopalakrishnan and others under the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989, and termed the complaint "an abuse of the process of law" and granted liberty to initiate criminal contempt proceedings against the complainant.

The FIR was filed by D Sanna Durgappa, an Indian Institute of Science (IISc) faculty member terminated in 2014 over sexual harassment allegations.

Justice Hemant Chandangoudar, who passed the order on 16 April, observed that the complaint was a "vexatious attempt to harass the petitioners".

The court noted that the termination was later converted into resignation after challenged in the HC in 2015. As part of the settlement, Durgappa had agreed to withdraw all legal proceedings against the institution and its representatives.

Despite this, he proceeded to file two more FIRs, both of which were quashed in 2022 and 2023. The current FIR, the court observed, contained similar allegations and was an abuse of judicial process.

"This judgment reaffirms that misuse of legal provisions has no place in a fair and just system. I am grateful that the Hon'ble High Court has seen through the falsehoods and upheld the truth," Gopalakrishnan said.