file police complaint against lady colleague for criminal defamation
before filing any complaint issue her legal notice to withdraw false and defamatory statements made by her and tender an unconditional apology
Mentally unstable coworker making false allegations of harassment
I work in a Government college in teaching position. One female teacher from Psychology department has made complaint of Sexual harrasment with no specific details to the Internal committee against Four Male and Three female teachers including me. The complaint was posted by her on Facebook and WhatsApp. On enquiry by IC committee, she gave irrelevant oral complaints mostly related to administrative grievances wich were not in sexual nature. Only one complaint of sexual nature was against me whereby she alleged that she has heard from someone that there are some objectionable photos and videos of her in my mobile phone. When committee further quizzed her, she confessed that she herself has not seen any such content or neither will reveal identify of person who has told her anything about it. The committee was not presented with any type of evidence. Committee submitted a report with a conclusion that "all the allegations are baseless. Complaint has violated the confidentiality expected in act and she has misused the Act." The lady has been consistently posting derogatory messages about all 7 individuals on social media. Now we suspect that she might harm herself and we may get in legal trouble. The employer being state govt, there are no corrective measures from higher authorities. The lady has broken family and therefore no hope of any corrective measures from that side. What should be our action to safeguard ourselves?
Asked 3 months ago in Criminal Law
Religion: Hindu
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5 Answers
If there are any direct defamatory message or posts in social media against you then you can issue a legal notice to her for the offending messages under defamation act.
Keep the legal notice as well as the defamatory messages secured to protect your future interest in this regard in case of any legal dispute at a later stage.
- Under sections 500 of the Indian Penal Code, defamation is a criminal offence.
- Further, defamatory acts can include “words either spoken or intended to be read", signs or visible representations, which are published or put up in the public domain. The offence is punishable with up to two years imprisonment, a fine or both.
- Since, the committee already concluded that her complaints were false and baseless , hence you can lodge a complaint against her for the offence of defamation.
- You can claim compensation from her after sending a legal notice and to file a civil defamation suit before the court.
Dear Client,
Herein, you have been working in a Government College, at a teaching position. A female teacher from the Psychology department had made a complaint of sexual harassment with no specifics to the Internal Committee, against four male and three female teachers, including you. This complaint was posted by the teacher on Facebook and WhatsApp and on enquiry by the Internal Committee, oral complaints were made by the teacher that were mostly in relation to the administrative grievances, not of sexual harassment, except one complaint against you wherein it has been alleged that she has heard from someone that there are certain objectionable photos and videos of her in your mobile. When this was further enquired, she confessed to the fact that she hasn't seen any of them by herself and will not reveal the identity of the person who told about the same. Further, no evidence was also presented and the Committee submitted a report with baseless allegations. Now, you want to safeguard yourself against her actions of defaming you, along with others. Here, firstly, it is very significant that the detailed records are maintained of all the communications between you and the Complainant, the internal committee meetings and the social media posts made by her. Further, if the social media posts made are defamatory in nature, you can file a complaint to cease the same, as the claims made are baseless. Hence, it can be claimed that the provisions given under the Protection Under the Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013, are misused by her.
Hope you find this answer beneficial for resolving the dispute.
1. The best legal recourse would be to file a criminal complaint for malacious prosecution and defamation in a court of magistrate.
2. You can also file a defamation suit in civil court.
3. Initiate departmental proceedings against that employee who has been falsely accusing you.
