Gurugram: That Haryana Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini conferred the Indira Gandhi Award on Women’s Day to a Jind-based social worker once jailed for filing a false rape case has left the state BJP government red-faced. Court documents show Rekha Dhiman had in 2020 falsely accused 12 men of rape, and has previously also filed false police complaints.
On Sunday, the Haryana Chief Minister’s Office (CMO) sought a time-bound report on the matter from the women and child development department. The government has also said strict action will be taken against those found guilty in this matter.
Talking to ThePrint Monday, Haryana government media coordinator Ashok Chhabra, confirmed that the CM Saini “has taken this lapse very seriously and sought a report from the concerned department”.
The controversy is linked to the 8 March event where CM Saini honored 50 women from various fields. Rekha Dhiman, a social worker from Jind, was conferred the Indira Gandhi Mahila Shakti Award.
However, under a picture of the event shared by CM Saini on X, Savita Arya said, “a woman who has falsely filed rape cases against more than two dozen men has been honoured. Please ensure an investigation into who recommended her for this award.”
हरियाणा की सशक्त मातृशक्ति के साथ 'अंतर्राष्ट्रीय महिला दिवस' पर एक सेल्फी !
प्रदेश के मेरे परिवारजनों के लिए और विशेष तौर पर मेरी 'माताओं-बहनों-बेटियों' के लिए यह गर्व का विषय है कि कैबिनेट मंत्री @Shruti4Progress जी और कैबिनेट मंत्री @ArtiSinghRao जी सशक्त महिलाओं के रूप में… pic.twitter.com/G08a4arV0U
— Nayab Saini (@NayabSainiBJP) March 8, 2025
Talking to ThePrint, Arya, who works at the Naari Tu Narayani Utthan Samiti, an NGO for women empowerment in Panipat, said that no amount of inquiries into the role of officials would yield any results because, in the end, the award is won by those who have a recommendation from a minister or an MLA.
“Deputy Commissioners in the district normally recommend the names of those who they notice working on the ground for women. However, the names recommended from the district rarely get any awards,” she said. “The ministers and ruling party MLAs either get their names included at the district level or get changed in Chandigarh. My own name has been recommended five times but to no results.”
When contacted by ThePrint, Dhiman said that she had applied for the Indira Gandhi Award in Narwana subdivision of Jind district.
The 33-year-old further said that she was interviewed by district officials in Jind about a month ago, and that her name was forwarded for the award only after a proper investigation by the deputy commissioner’s office. She refused to comment on the controversy.
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False allegations made in 2020
The Indira Gandhi award is the Haryana government’s second highest award for women after the Smt Sushma Swaraj Award, which was presented to a Shanta Ranga of Karnal.
Dhiman was given her award jointly with Bala Verma from Hisar.
While Sushma Swaraj award carries a cash prize of Rs 5 lakh, along with a shawl and a citation, the winner of the Indira Gandhi award gets Rs 1.5 lakh and a citation.
Dhiman shared a photo of herself winning the award on Facebook, saying she was “honored to receive Haryana’s Indira Gandhi Mahila Shakti Award with the blessings of Honorable Chief Minister Shri Nayab Singh Saini Ji, under the guidance of esteemed Cabinet Minister Smt. Shruti Choudhry Ji”.
An alumna of Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalaya in Jind, Dhiman runs the Udaan Hauslon Ki Foundation in the district dealing with women’s issues.
In September 2020, she accused 12 individuals of of drugging and raping her. She also accused them of threatening her and withdrawing money from her account.
An investigation into these allegations found them to be false, and the police filed a cancellation report in the court. According to court records, seen by ThePrint, on 24 November 2021, the chief judicial magistrate of Jind accepted the cancellation report. The court also noted that Dhiman was a repeat offender.
“The police investigation found no evidence supporting her claims, and she had a history of making similar false accusations, including a previous case in Hisar where the accused were acquitted.”
It further said, “Despite multiple court notices, she failed to appear to contest the cancellation report, and she later admitted in a Section 164 CrPC statement that the FIR was filed due to a misunderstanding. The court noted her misuse of legal processes and upheld the cancellation of the case, while also highlighting that she was already facing charges under Section 182 IPC (Indian Penal Code) for giving false information to the police.”
Spent 33 days in jail
On 8 November 2021, Sachin Kumar, a Jind Judicial Magistrate (First Class), framed charges against Dhiman, saying that prima facie, a case under IPC Section 182 (providing false information to public servants) could be made out against her.
However, she moved a revision before the district courts against this order and, on 8 July 2022, Amarjit Singh, the additional District and session judge, Jind, set aside these orders because the judicial magistrate had wrongly taken cognisance of the case.
Under Section 195(1)(a) CrPC, only the Jind superintendent of police (SP), and not the station house officer (SHO), women police station, was legally authorised to file the kalandra.
A kalandra is a report recorded by police in non-cognisable cases under Section 182 IPC.
Dhiman was discharged and the matter was closed.
Meanwhile, the police registered a case against Dhiman on a complaint by Sunil Galawat, one of the 12 people named by her in her FIR. She was arrested on 13 December 2021 for defaming Galawat and also under various provisions of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act.
On 14 January 2022, the Additional Sessions Judge, Jind, Jasbir Singh Sindhu granted bail to Dhiman in this case.
While granting her bail, the court noted that she had remained in judicial custody for about 33 days and that her co-accused, Zile Singh and Sandeep Kumar, had already been granted interim bail by the Punjab & Haryana High Court. She was also no longer required for investigation.
The case is currently being heard in the Punjab and Haryana High Court.
On 2 January this year, she was expelled from the Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalaya Alumni Welfare Association and restrained members from having any kind of connection with her. ThePrint has seen the resolution.
President Rajpal Duhan told The Print that the association took this step because two of the 12 people Dhiman had falsely accused were also alumni of the Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalaya.
“All our members were of the view that they don’t want to keep any connection with her.” Duhan added.
(Edited by Sanya Mathur)
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