A special court in Lucknow has sentenced advocate Permanand Gupta to life imprisonment for orchestrating a large-scale misuse of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act. The court found Gupta guilty of using a Dalit woman to file a series of false cases against his personal rivals. Alongside the life sentence, the court imposed a fine of ₹5,10,000.
The verdict was delivered by Special Judge (SC/ST Act) Vivekanand Sharan Tripathi, who directed that a copy of the order be sent to the Bar Council of Uttar Pradesh to ensure that individuals like Gupta are barred from practicing in courts to maintain the integrity of the judicial system.
Background and CBI Investigation
According to Special Public Prosecutor Arvind Mishra, the case revealed a blatant abuse of the SC/ST law. Advocate Gupta was found to have filed as many as 18 false cases through the woman, who herself filed 11. The conspiracy came to light during proceedings in the Allahabad High Court when police reports exposed the fabricated nature of these complaints.
The High Court, taking serious note of the revelations, ordered a CBI probe into the matter on March 5, 2025.
Modus Operandi
In one instance, Gupta orchestrated a complaint through the woman against his rival Arvind Yadav and his family. The complaint alleged that she had been sexually assaulted at a disputed site between March 1 and July 24, 2024. Based on this, a local court ordered police to register an FIR and conduct an investigation on January 18, 2025.
However, the probe uncovered that she was not even present at the location during the stated time period. Moreover, the house where she claimed to be a tenant was actually under construction by Arvind Yadav and Avdhesh Yadav.
Key Testimony from the Co-Accused
During trial, the woman turned approver and testified against Gupta. She told the court that she was pressured by him to make false statements and had to repeat them before the magistrate under duress. In light of her cooperation, the court granted her conditional pardon.
Court’s Directions
Observing the serious threat such actions pose to the justice system, the court imposed a life sentence on advocate Permanand Gupta. Judge Tripathi also emphasized the need to protect the dignity and credibility of the judiciary by preventing such individuals from exploiting legal provisions for personal vendetta.
