SC cancels bail granted to two men by Allahabad HC in minor's gangrape case
New Delhi (PTI): The Supreme Court has set aside the Allahabad High Court order granting bail to two persons, accused of kidnapping and gangraping a 14 year-old minor, and expressed displeasure for not making the survivor a party during the bail plea hearing.
A bench comprising Justices Bela M Trivedi and Satish Chandra Sharma asked the accused – Khargesh alias Golu and Karan – to surrender before the trial court on or before December 30.
The bench in the process allowed the survivor's plea, filed through advocate Pranav Sachdeva, seeking cancellation of the bail granted by the Allahabad High Court.
Taking a strong exception to the fact that neither the accused nor the public prosecutor nor the Allahabad HC informed the minor survivor about the bail hearing, the bench said, "In the instant case, there is gross violation of the said statutory provisions contained in Section 439(1A) of CrPC and Section 15A(3) of the SC/ST Act, at the instance of the respondents."
The high court in the impugned order also did not consider the mandatory requirement of both the Acts and granted bail to the respondents in a very casual and cursory manner, without assigning any cogent reasons, though they were prima facie involved in a very serious offence, noted the bench's order on December 13.
The apex court held the bail orders were in "utter disregard" of the mandatory provisions of Code of Criminal Procedure and the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act while setting them aside.
"It appears that the respondents concerned -- accused had not impleaded the present appellant as the party respondent in the bail proceedings filed by them before the high court, and the public prosecutor concerned also had not informed the appellant victim about the said proceedings,” it said.
Referring to the legal provisions, the bench said the presence of the survivor or any person authorised by him or her was obligatory at the time of hearing of the application for bail to the person in cases related to rape and gangrape.
"Similarly, it is also mandatory on the part of the special public prosecutor of the state government to inform the victim about the court proceedings, including bail proceedings as contemplated in sub-section (3) of Section 15A of the SC/ST Act,” the bench said.
According to the plea, the minor had known the accused persons, who were her neighbours, for a long time and on July 27, 2021, one of them, Karan, forced her to meet near a temple on the pretext of going to a park.
Three other accused persons later came in a car and took her to a flat, where they took turns to rape her and "brutally assaulted" her when she tried to raise an alarm, the plea said.
The trial court, on September 13, 2021, dismissed the bail plea of one of the accused on the ground that the survivor's supported the case in her statement.
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
Police foil escape attempt by kidnapping accused during medical exam
Gurugram (PTI): Kidnapping accused who was brought for medical examination here, tried to flee by jumping over the wall of the hospital, was nabbed by police immediately on Tuesday, officials said.
According to the police, four accused were arrested on Sunday for kidnapping a 20-year-old man after befriending him through a dating app. The accused also demanded a ransom of Rs 37,000.
The accused were identified as Ajay, Deepesh, Ashish alias Golu and Anil. Police have taken them on two days of police remand after being produced in a city court, they added.
"On Tuesday, all four accused were taken to Civil Hospital Sector-10 for medical examination, during which one of the accused, Ashish, tried to escape.
The accused tried to escape by jumping over the wall of the hospital, but was caught immediately, the police said.
A case was registered under relevant sections of the BNS at Sector 10 police station for attempting to escape from police custody. We are questioning the accused", they said.
