Citing accused's criminal antecedents, the Delhi High Court has rejected the bail application of a man accused of raping and abetting the suicide of a nineteen-year-old girl. The Court as reasons for denying bail.

A Single Judge Bench of Justice Tushar Rao Gedela observed that “This Court has considered the aforesaid submissions qua the offence under Section 376 IPC, 1860 and is unable to agree with the contention of the learned counsel for the applicant. This is for the reason that the overwhelming evidence in the form of WhatsApp chats, prima facie, appear to point an incriminating finger against the applicant”.

The Bench further added that “the WhatsApp chats do indicate that the deceased did in fact meet the applicant subsequent to the messages exchanged between the parties and it was soon after the meeting that the deceased returned home and committed suicide”.

Advocate Jatan Singh appeared for the Petitioner, whereas Advocate Shoaib Haider appeared for the Respondent.

As per the brief facts, the police had received a PCR call, reporting the incident of a 19-year-old girl who had hanged herself. She was declared 'brought dead' at Vashisth Hospital. The complainant, who was the deceased girl's mother, informed the police that a friend, identified as 'S,' had disclosed that the deceased, 'M,' was extremely distressed. 'S' revealed that a boy named Karan Chandela (the applicant) had been blackmailing and threatening 'M’, sharing explicit videos and photos of her on social media. It was further alleged that 'S' informed the complainant that the applicant had reportedly raped 'M' multiple times. On the fateful day of Sep 19, 2019, 'M' had gone to meet the applicant at a hotel, and upon returning, she took her own life. Initially, the FIR was registered under Section 306 IPC, but the offense under Section 376 IPC was subsequently added following initial investigations by the prosecuting agency.

The applicant's counsel argued that the applicant and the deceased were in a consensual relationship for two years before the incident occurred. It was submitted that there was a complete absence of evidence, whether oral, documentary, or scientific, which could even prima facie show any of the ingredients of Section 376 IPC having been committed by the applicant upon the deceased.

After considering the submission, the Bench observed that there was a reason to believe that the star witness, turning hostile and retracting her statement by providing a letter to the police station shortly after the applicant was granted interim protection from arrest, was not merely coincidental.

Further, the Bench found that the father and uncle of the applicant allegedly assaulted and harassed the deceased's mother and the complainant, on the day which happened to be the same day the applicant was released on interim bail.

The Bench also took note of the fact that the applicant had previously been involved in two FIRs registered under Sections 323/341/427/452/506/34 IPC, and these two FIRs were subsequently quashed by a Co-ordinate Bench of the same court based on a settlement reached between the applicant, other co-accused individuals, and the complainant in those cases.

The Bench therefore observed that the resolution of those cases was based on a settlement and did not necessarily indicate that the applicant was found innocent.

The Bench also noted that the applicant had been subjected to jail punishments on three separate occasions during his period of incarceration, and his overall jail conduct had been recorded as ‘unsatisfactory’.

Thus, the High Court concluded that although all the primary/public witnesses in the present case had been examined, cross-examined, and discharged, the peculiar circumstances of the case did not inspire confidence that the applicant would not misuse bail if granted.

Accordingly, the High Court dismissed the bail application.

Cause Title: Karan Chandela v. The State (Govt. of NCT of Delhi) [Neutral Citation: 2023: DHC: 6778]

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Delhi High CourtJustice Tushar Rao Gedela

Pankaj Bajpai