Karnataka HC quashes FIR against Infosys co-founder

Bengaluru: The Karnataka High Court has quashed an FIR registered against Infosys co-founder Kris Gopalakrishnan and others under the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989.

The court termed the complaint “an abuse of the process of law” and granted liberty to initiate criminal contempt proceedings against the complainant.

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

The FIR was based on a private complaint filed by D Sanna Durgappa, a former faculty member of the Indian Institute of Science (IISc), who was terminated in 2014 following an internal inquiry into sexual harassment allegations.

He claimed that in 2014, he was falsely implicated in a honey trap case and subsequently dismissed from service. He further alleged that he was subjected to casteist abuse and threats.

The court noted that the termination was later converted into resignation, following a challenge before the High Court in 2015. As part of the settlement then, Durgappa had agreed to withdraw all complaints and 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 present FIR, the court observed, contained similar allegations and was an abuse of judicial process.

Reacting to the judgement, Kris Gopalakrishnan said in statement, “I have full faith in our courts and the justice system. 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.”

The court further held that the allegations did not attract any offence under the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, pointing out that the matter was essentially civil in nature, but had been wrongly given a criminal colour.

The court has also allowed Gopalakrishnan and other petitioners to approach the Advocate General for permission to initiate criminal contempt proceedings against Durgappa.