No Use Of Any Violence, Force Or Threat For Alleged Act: Delhi HC Grants Bail To Man Accused Of Sexually Assaulting Minor
The Delhi High Court has granted bail to a man who was accused of sexually assaulting a minor girl who was in a relationship with him on the ground that there was no use of any violence, force, or threat for the alleged sexual act.
A Single Bench of Justice Anup Jairam Bhambhani held, “There is no gainsaying that since the prosecutrix is a minor, her ‘consent’ to the sexual act alleged to have been committed by the petitioner is irrelevant. That being said however, the court also cannot ignore the fact that on both occasions on which the offence is alleged to have been committed, the prosecutrix met with and accompanied the petitioner of her own volition, without any physical threat, coercion or compulsion, and therefore, to that limited extent, she consented to being in the company of the petitioner … The narrative does not disclose the use of any violence, force or threat for the sexual act alleged.”
The Bench observed that there is also no medical evidence that supports the offence of rape as alleged by the victim.
Advocate Amit Chadha appeared on behalf of the petitioner/accused while APP Shoaib Haider and Advocate Nitin Saluja appeared on behalf of the State and victim respectively.
Brief Facts -
A petition was filed by the accused seeking bail in connection to the case registered under Sections 376 and 506 of the IPC and Section 6 of the POCSO Act. The accused was about 22 years of age at the time of the incident and the victim was around 15 years old and both were distantly related. Thereafter, a relationship commenced between the accused and the victim and one day the accused took the victim to an OYO Hotel room where he made physical relations with her allegedly on the promise of marrying her.
The second incident happened wherein the accused administered the victim a stupefying drink when she was in the car with him and took her to the same hotel where he was alleged to have made bodily relations with her for the second time and this time without her consent. It was also alleged that after committing the said act, he left the victim at her house and threatened her with dire consequences if she revealed anything to her family.
The High Court in view of the above facts noted, “The court is conscious that while dealing with a bail petition, it is necessary for the court not to delve minutely into, or evaluate, the evidence in the matter, lest it prejudice the on-going trial.”
The Court said that the contradictory narration of the victim’s mother in the two GD entries cannot be ignored.
“But most importantly, what prevails with the court is that the deposition of all material witnesses has already been recorded at the trial; that the petitioner is a young man, about 24 years of age; that he is not implicated in any other criminal offence; that he has already suffered judicial custody for about 02 years”, further said the Court.
The Court also noted that there is no material to suggest that the accused is either a flight risk or that he is likely to intimidate any witnesses or tamper with the evidence.
“In the circumstances, this court is persuaded to admit the petitioner/Vicky @ Kapil son of Raj Kumar to regular bail pending trial”, held the Court. It further directed the petitioner to furnish a personal bond in the sum of Rs. 25,000/- with one surety in the like amount from a family member to the satisfaction of the trial court.
Accordingly, the Court granted bail to the accused.
Cause Title- Vicky @ Kapil v. The State (Neutral Citation: 2023:DHC:3957)
