If someone is acquitted in a criminal case, the person who filed the complaint against them automatically committed this offence.

Courts require proof that the complainant knew the charge was baseless and intended to injure the accused; an acquittal alone does not establish that the original complaint was malicious or false.

Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023

Section 248

False charge of offence made with intent to injure

Whoever, with intent to cause injury to any person, institutes or causes to be instituted any criminal proceeding against that person, or falsely charges any person with having committed an offence, knowing that there is no just or lawful ground for such proceeding or charge against that person,—§

(a) shall be punished with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to five years, or with fine which may extend to two lakh rupees, or with both;§

(b) if such criminal proceeding be instituted on a false charge of an offence punishable with death, imprisonment for life, or imprisonment for ten years or upwards, shall be punishable with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to ten years, and shall also be liable to fine.§

Why this exists

The criminal justice system can be weaponized to harass innocent people through false FIRs and fabricated complaints. This provision, earlier Section 211 of the Indian Penal Code, 1860, deters malicious prosecution by punishing people who knowingly file baseless criminal cases with intent to injure someone, with an especially heavy penalty when the fabricated charge involved a very serious offence.

How courts read it

Section 211 IPC (and its BNS equivalent) has frequently been invoked in Indian courts in matters involving allegedly false FIRs lodged out of personal enmity, property disputes, or matrimonial conflict; courts have repeatedly emphasized that mere acquittal in the original case does not automatically prove malice, and a separate finding of knowing falsity and intent to injure is required before this offence is made out.

Common misconceptions

Myth: If someone is acquitted in a criminal case, the person who filed the complaint against them automatically committed this offence.
Fact: Courts require proof that the complainant knew the charge was baseless and intended to injure the accused; an acquittal alone does not establish that the original complaint was malicious or false.