Authority: High Court of Karnataka, Bengaluru

Order Date: 6 November 2026

Case Overview

  • Petitioners: Eleven employees of Standard Chartered Bank (Arif M.S., V.S. Sriram, Ruzai Athaide, Samrat Sarkar, Surbith Paul, Rashmi Thyagaraj, Shanu Kapoor, G.L. Harsha, Shaik Saida Zilani, Alok Bajpai, Selva Kumar) filed Criminal Petition No.6644 of 2019 under Section 482 of the Cr.P.C. seeking quash of a complaint dated 11‑02‑2019 (Annexure‑A), a second complaint dated 08‑07‑2019 (Annexure‑B) and FIR No.44/2019 (Annexure‑C) registered by Koramangala Police.
  • Respondents: State of Karnataka (through Assistant Commissioner of Police, Adugodi Sub‑Division, Hosur Road, Bengaluru) and Ms. NANDINI NAGARAJ.
  • Allegations in the complaints: The complainant, a Business Development Executive at the bank for nine years, alleged physical, mental and sexual harassment on 29‑05‑2018 and 30‑05‑2018 by the petitioners, including forced hand‑twisting, abusive language, and caste‑based insults. A further allegation on 30‑06‑2018 involved a derogatory comment about “boom” and alleged attempted touching. The complainant also filed complaints with the Karnataka State Commission for Women, the bank’s internal grievance mechanisms, the National Human Rights Commission, and the National Women’s Commission.
  • Procedural history: The bank issued reprimands and a Performance Improvement Plan (PIP) to the complainant in 2016 and again in May 2018. The complainant took unauthorized leave (24‑07‑2018 to 13‑09‑2018) and lodged the first external complaint on 03‑09‑2018. Subsequent internal and external grievance redressal processes were undertaken, culminating in the FIR on 11‑02‑2019. The petitioners’ statements were recorded between January and May 2019. The complainant was terminated on 26‑07‑2019.
  • Arguments: Petitioners contended that the complaints were frivolous, vindictive, and filed as an afterthought to harass them, highlighting the eight‑month delay, prior disciplinary actions, and the addition of SC/ST Act provisions only in the second complaint. They relied on multiple Supreme Court precedents (Bhajan Lal, Inder Mohan Goswami, Krishna Lal Chawla, etc.) to argue misuse of criminal law. The State argued that the internal investigation was based on the complaint and that the matter required investigation by the investigating officer.

Final Outcome

  • The Court held that the complaints were filed with undue delay, were afterthoughts, and lacked substantive merit. It found the allegations to be frivolous and vindictive, and that the invocation of the SC/ST Act was an afterthought.
  • Exercising its inherent powers under Section 482 of the Cr.P.C., the Court allowed the petition.
  • Order: The complaint dated 11‑02‑2019 (Annexure‑A), the second complaint dated 08‑07‑2019 (Annexure‑B), and the FIR registered as Cr.No.44/2019 (Annexure‑C) are hereby quashed.

Topics: Criminal Procedure; Workplace Harassment; Section 482