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.
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Rupee falls 9 paise to all-time low of 90.58 against US dollar in early trade
Mumbai (PTI): Rupee depreciated 9 paise to an all-time low of 90.58 against US dollar in early trade on Monday, weighed down by uncertainty over an India-US trade deal and persistent foreign fund outflows.
Forex traders said rupee is trading with a negative bias as investors are in wait and watch mode and awaiting cues from the India-US trade deal front.
At the interbank foreign exchange market, the rupee opened at 90.53 against the US dollar, then fell further to an all-time intraday low of 90.58 against the greenback, registering a fall of 9 paise over its previous close.
On Friday, the rupee had slipped 17 paise to close at an all-time low of 90.49 against the American currency.
Meanwhile, the dollar index, which gauges the greenback's strength against a basket of six currencies, was trading 0.05 per cent lower at 98.35.
Brent crude, the global oil benchmark, was trading higher by 0.52 per cent at USD 61.44 per barrel in futures trade.
On the domestic equity market front, the 30-share benchmark index Sensex was trading 298.86 points lower at 84,968.80, while the Nifty was down 121.40 points at 25,925.55.
Foreign Institutional Investors sold equities worth Rs 1,114.22 crore on Friday, according to exchange data.
"FPIs continue to be in selling mode in equity and debt while RBI has been selling dollars to fund their long positions," said Anil Kumar Bhansali, Head of Treasury and Executive Director Finrex Treasury Advisors LLP.
