1. Supplementary affidavit filed today is taken on record.
2. Heard Sri Shiva Kant Srivastava, learned counsel for applicant, Sri Savan Kumar, learned counsel for the informant and Sri Rajendra Prasad Singh, learned State Law Officer for the State.
3. The present bail application has been filed by the applicant in Case Crime No.34 of 2024, under Sections 376, 506 IPC and Section 67 I.T. Act, Police Station Devgaon, District Azamgarh with the prayer to enlarge him on bail.
PROSECUTION STORY:
4. The applicant is stated to have established corporeal relationship with the victim on the false promise of marriage. The said relationship is stated to have continued for a period of about four years.
5. The applicant is stated to have subsequently refused to comply with the said betrothal. He is even stated to have got the pregnancy of the victim terminated as she was forced to consume certain medicines.
6. There are allegations against the applicant of having made certain indecent video of her and had blackmailed her. Subsequently the parents of the victim are stated to be bespoken elsewhere, whereby the applicant is stated to have sent the indecent video of the victim from mobile no.7456826184 to the WhatsApp number of the erstwhile groom i.e. 9554501716, as such the said betrothal was also broken.
ARGUMENTS ON BEHALF OF APPLICANT:
7. The applicant is absolutely innocent and has been falsely implicated in the present case.
8. The applicant is ready to take care of the victim and marry her.
9. The applicant was granted interim bail vide order dated 14.06.2024 and he had tried his level best to marry the victim, but the family members of the victim had refused to get the said marriage solemnized.
10. The victim was major at the time of offence also as she is 22 years old at this time.
11. The mobile number from which the said video is stated to have been sent to the erstwhile groom i.e. 7456826184 does not belong to the applicant. The applicant does not know the holder of the said mobile.
12. Much reliance has been placed on the judgment of Supreme Court passed in Pramod Suryabhan Pawar vs. State of Maharashtra and Another, 2019 (9) SCC 608 and Ansaar Mohammad vs. State of Rajasthan and Another, 2022 SCC OnLine SC 886, wherein it has been opined that entering into any kind of corporeal relationship with a person on the pretext of getting married cannot be termed as rape.
13. There is no criminal history of the applicant. He is in jail since 25.1.2024 and is ready to cooperate with trial.
ARGUMENTS ON BEHALF OF STATE/INFORMANT:
14. The bail application has been opposed on the ground that the applicant has made viral the said indecent video of the victim, as such has ruined her life. The applicant has betrayed the trust of the victim, as such is not entitled for bail.
15. The said video has been sent to F.S.L.
CONCLUSION:
16. As far as the case law tendered at bar by the counsel for the applicant is concerned, they do apply to the consensual corporeal relationship on the promise of marriage, but in the instant case the applicant has made viral the said video and had sent it to the erstwhile groom.
17. After hearing the rival submissions advanced by learned counsel for the parties and taking into consideration the fact that the applicant has made viral the indecent video of the victim, I do not find it a fit case for grant of bail to the applicant.
18. The bail application is found devoid of merits and is, accordingly, rejected.
19. However, it is directed that the aforesaid case pending before the trial court be decided expeditiously as early as possible in view of the principle as has been laid down in the recent judgments of the Apex Court in the cases of Vinod Kumar vs. State of Punjab; 2015 (3) SCC 220 and Hussain and Another vs. Union of India; (2017) 5 SCC 702, if there is no legal impediment.
20. It is clarified that the observations made herein are limited to the facts brought in by the parties pertaining to the disposal of bail application and the said observations shall have no bearing on the merits of the case during trial.
