Unfounded criminal charges stigmatize reputation; loss of character can’t be restored by judicial reprieve: HC

Unfounded criminal charges stigmatize reputation and bring disrepute, and loss of character or bruised reputation cannot be restored even by judicial reprieve, the Aurangabad bench of the Bombay High Court has said while quashing an FIR lodged against a woman judicial officer by her sister-in-law.

A division bench of Justices Anuja Prabhudessai and R M Joshi in an order passed on January 7 said the right to reputation and dignity of an individual is held to be an integrated part of Articles 21 and 19(2) of the Constitution.

The bench quoted Shakespeare and said, “Good name in man and woman, dear my lord, is the immediate jewel of their souls: Who steals my purse steals trash; ’tis something, nothing; ’twas mine, ’tis his, and has been slave to thousands: But he that filches from me my good name robs me of that which not enriches him and makes me poor indeed.”.