Punjab And Haryana High Court Grants Bail To Accused In Chandigarh University Video Leak Case

The Punjab and Haryana High Court on Monday granted bail to Sanjeev Singh, an accused arrested in September in the Chandigarh University video leak case.

Justice Amarjot Bhatti in the order said entire investigation is complete and the accused cannot be put behind the bars for an indefinite time period.

"The chargesheet is yet to be framed, thereafter the prosecution evidence will be recorded. The petitioner was arrested in this case on 24.09.2022 and since then he is in judicial lock up. Trial of this case may take long time," said the court.

In September, Kharar police in Punjab's Mohali registered an FIR on the basis of a statement given by a manager of the girls' hostel of the university. In the statement, a female student was accused of making obscene videos of other students in the hostel.

According to the complaint, photographs and videos had been deleted from the phone but she "was continuously receiving calls and messages". She "was told to put the call on speaker and she asked the said caller to send the photographs or video which he had received. The said boy had sent screen shot of an obscene video. When she strictly enquired from [the accused girl] she confessed everything".

While the FIR was registered against the girl and a co-accused, Singh's name cropped up during further investigation. He has been accused of offences under Sections 354A, 354C, 354D, 506, 509 and 511 of the IPC and Sections 66 (C), 66(D), 66(E), 67A and 84 (C) of the Information Technology Act, 2000.

His counsel argued that he was falsely implicated in the case and that he had not prepared any obscene video or clicked any such photographs. He contended that even if the case of the prosecution were to be believed, he merely received an obscene video, which was not circulated by him to anybody. It was contended that he had been in custody since September 24.

The State, on the other hand, while confirming that challan has already been presented before the trial court, said that allegations against the petitioner-accused are specific and serious in nature and a specific role has been attributed to him. The State further contended that since charges are yet to be framed in this case and considering the gravity of the offences, the petitioner is not entitled to be released on bail.