Today, on 24th March 2026, the Supreme Court of India issued notice on a PIL by Ashwini Kumar Upadhyay seeking measures against false cases, including display boards on penalties, with a bench led by Surya Kant listing hearing for May 11, 2026.
NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court issued notice in a public interest litigation seeking broad directions to the Centre and State governments to establish preventive measures against false complaints, fabricated evidence and frivolous criminal cases.
A bench led by Chief Justice of India Surya Kant has taken cognizance of the petition and listed the matter for hearing on May 11, 2026.
The petitioner, Advocate Ashwini Kumar Upadhyay, has asked the Court to direct authorities to place prominent “Display Boards” at police stations, tehsil and district court premises, panchayat bhawans, municipal offices and educational institutions, clearly stating the statutory provisions and penalties for false complaints, false charges, false statements, false information and false evidence. The plea contends that such disclosures are necessary to protect the right to life, personal liberty, dignity and reputation of innocent citizens under Article 21.
Filed through AoR Ashwani Kumar Dubey, the PIL further requests that police and other authorities inform complainants, before accepting any complaint, about the penal consequences of lodging false or malicious cases. The petitioner submits that this measure is vital to safeguard the freedom of speech and expression of innocent persons who otherwise live in fear of misuse of the criminal justice process.
The petition also calls for a mandatory undertaking or affidavit from complainants, affirming that the allegations, statements, information, evidence and charges they present are true and correct. According to the petitioner, such an undertaking would provide a minimal deterrent against false complaints and help reduce the large number of frivolous cases that burden the justice system.
Relying on compiled data from the National Crime Records Bureau, the PIL points to a pronounced disparity between registered cases and convictions under several special criminal statutes. The petition alleges that acquittal figures are disproportionately high, indicating a systemic problem of false complaints, false charges and fabricated evidence.
The petitioner has invoked Law Commission of India Report No. 277, which identified false charges, fabricated evidence and wrongful prosecutions as significant contributors to miscarriages of justice and violations of Article 21. The Commission reportedly found that remedies against perjury and false prosecution are sporadic, uncertain and largely ineffective, with many undertrials ultimately acquitted after prolonged incarceration.
While noting that Chapter XIV of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), 2023 contains offences addressing false information and evidence, the plea argues that the lack of any administrative or preventive framework has rendered those provisions largely ineffective. The petitioner contends that penal provisions that remain only on paper, without mechanisms to enforce them, amount to arbitrariness through State inaction.
Relying on Article 14, the PIL argues that the State’s failure to uniformly inform complainants of legal consequences or to implement safeguards against misuse results in unequal application of criminal law and permits selective weaponisation. Such inaction, the petition asserts, undermines the constitutional guarantees of equality before the law and fair administration of justice.
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The plea also contends that false cases chill fundamental freedoms under Article 19. The threat of malicious prosecution, it argues, suppresses free speech, limits movement, impairs the right to pursue trade or profession, and discourages legitimate dissent and enterprise. When citizens and professionals face the constant risk of false FIRs, their constitutional liberties become hollow.
Stressing Article 21, the petition submits that false complaints and malicious prosecutions turn the criminal process itself into punishment, causing loss of liberty, social stigma, mental anguish and irreparable harm to reputation even where the accused are ultimately acquitted.
The petitioner notes that the judiciary is already overburdened by false complaints and fabricated cases, yet neither the Central nor State governments have taken sufficient steps to curb these “menaces.”
Besides the display boards and mandatory undertakings, the PIL seeks a declaration that sentences for false complaint, false statement, false information, false charges and false evidence should run consecutively, and prays for any other reliefs the Court deems appropriate to effectively tackle perjury and abuse of the criminal justice system.
Case Title: Ashwini Kumar Upadhyay v. Union of India & Anr.
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