Bombay High Court Cancels Bail Granted By Sessions Court To Man Accused Of Defaming Minor Girl With Obscene Photos

The Bombay High Court cancelled the bail granted by Sessions Court to a man accused of extorting and defaming a child with obscene photos after finding that he had obtained bail from sessions court during the pendency of his bail application before the HC.

Justice PK Chavan noted that in the accused obtained bail from Sessions Court, Pune despite claiming in his bail application before HC that no case for bail was pending in any other court.

“Indubitably, this Court has been misled which is a serious thing which also amounts to interference in the judicial process and, therefore, bail granted by the Additional Sessions Judge, Pune on 10th June, 2022 to the applicant in Special Case No.273 of 2022 is cancelled”, the court observed.

The man is booked for offenses punishable under sections 354-D, 500, and 509 of the IPC and Sections 8, 12, 14, and 15 of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, 2012, as well as Section 65-B of the Information Technology Act.

The case against the accused is that he defamed the victim by making her obscene photos viral. The victim, a minor, alleged that the accused had developed a relationship with her and coerced her into sending obscene photos by threatening to defame her.

The Sessions Court granted him bail observing that the victim was about 16 years old and used social media applications, indicating she was of understandable age. The Sessions Court also said that there is no evidence suggesting that the accused forwarded the obscene photographs.

The subsequent revelation of this bail granted by the Sessions Court led to the High Court's decision to cancel the bail during the proceedings in his bail application before the HC.

The accused moved the High Court for bail on April 11, 2022. On February 22, 2024, the prosecution brought to the attention of the High Court that the accused had secured bail from the Additional Sessions Judge, Pune, on June 10, 2022. The court noted that the applicant had failed to disclose this fact.

Advocate Mahendra Kawchale for the accused tendered an unconditional apology. He claimed that he was misled by one of the applicant's relatives who falsely informed him that the bail application pending before the High Court had been withdrawn by the new lawyer.

However, the court noted that there was no mention of a withdrawal request before the High Court. The court deemed his assertion that he filed a fresh bail application before the Special Court, Pune, based on the relative's information unacceptable and unbelievable.

Consequently, the bail granted by the Sessions Court was cancelled, and the surety was discharged. Additionally, the bail bond of the accused and the surety was forfeited.

The court directed the accused, who was present in the court, to surrender before the concerned court on Saturday, February 24, 2024, at 11:00 am. It directed the Principal District Judge, Pune to ensure the necessary steps for placing the accused in judicial custody until the conclusion of the trial.

The court listed the case for further hearing on Monday, February 26, 2024.

Advocates Mahendra V. Kawchale, Premkumar N. Mishra, and Satish Hargude represented the Applicant.

APP Ashish Satpute represented the State.

Case no. – Criminal Bail Application No. 1354 of 2022

Case Title – Prashant @ Sonya Ramesh Sabale v. State of Maharashtra and Anr.