National Conference on
The Dynamics of False Cases

False cases are popularly understood as cases where allegations are made that are known to be untrue by the parties making them. They are usually understood as cases initiated by women, who make false allegations against others (usually men) either as a bargaining chip in another legal matter and/ or for some mala fide intent. The idea of false cases is connected to that of the misuse of law, which is gendered in the popular imagination: the laws that are seen as misused are those that exist to protect women, and women are seen as misusing these laws by filing false cases.

More recently, the association of false cases with other social groups has grown: for example, the draft UGC (Promotion of Equity in Higher Education Institutions) Regulations, 2025, which aims to prevent discrimination on the basis of religion, race, caste, sex, and place of birth, in institutes of higher education, also contains a section on false complaints, which would invite disciplinary proceedings against the complainant. (Update: the section on false complaints is absent from the final draft of the Regulations, which were published in January 2026.) The Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act (POCSO) and the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act are also seen as misused.

Nonetheless the current rhetoric around the idea of false cases is most associated with laws pertaining to dowry, cruelty, and rape. In this discourse, women are seen as wholly agential, able to use the law for whichever purposes they want. The rest of the edifice of the law and order machinery – the police, lawyers, courts, judges, procedures, evidentiary rules – are barely present in the current discourse. Also absent in this discourse is mention of the non- implementation of laws such as the Dowry Prohibition Act and Prohibition of Child Marriage Act.

Despite the extensive and growing currency of the idea of false cases, there is little empirical knowledge or theorising on them. There is also little collective discussion on the topic and the impact it has on academic and community- based work. The Dynamics of False Cases conference will provide an opportunity for academics and practitioners to come together to learn and reflect upon the idea/phenomenon of false cases.