Allahabad High Court Grants Pre-Arrest Bail To Rape Accused Till Completion Of Probe As He Marries Victim

The bench of Justice Rajesh Singh Chauhan granted relief to the accused as it noted that both, the victim and accused have married each other and are living happily as husband and wife.

"Therefore, without entering into merits of the issue, considering the arguments of learned counsel for the parties, the material available on record, the contents and allegations of the F.I.R., the undisputed fact by the parties that the applicant and the prosecutrix got married and are living happily together, the investigation is going on and the undertaking of the present applicant that he shall co-operate with the investigation and shall never misuse the liberty of anticipatory bail, I find it appropriate that liberty of the present application may be protected till completion of the investigation or till filing of the police report/ charge-sheet under Section 173 (2) Cr.P.C," the Court remarked.

In this case, the FIR was lodged by the mother of the victim on the allegations that the Accused (Amarjeet) enticed away her minor daughter and raped her. Pursuant to this, the accused was booked under Sections 363 & 366 I.P.C., however during the investigation, Section 376 I.P.C. and Sections 7 & 8 of the POCSO Act were added.

The accused moved the instant pre-arrest bail plea by submitting that he was in love with the prosecutrix and both of them got married on August 2, 2022, and on that day, she was above 18 years of age, however, at the time of lodging F.I.R. she was about 17 years, 11 months and 07 days.

It was her further submission that both of them are living together and the prosecutrix has got no grievance of any kind whatsoever against the present applicant. The counsel for the victim also supported the case of the accused.

In view of this, the High Court directed that in the event of arrest, the accused be released on anticipatory bail in the case till completion of the investigation, on his furnishing a personal bond of Rs.25,000/- with two sureties each in the like amount to the satisfaction of the arresting authority/ court concerned.

Advocates Sudhanshu S. Tripathi and Ritwika Tripathi appeared for the applicant/accused.

Case title – Amarjeet v. State Of U.P. Thru. Addl. Chief Secy. /Prin. Secy. Home, Lko. Lko. And 4 Others [CRIMINAL MISC ANTICIPATORY BAIL APPLICATION U/S 438 CR.P.C. No. - 1687 of 2022]

Case Citation: 2022 LiveLaw (AB) 466

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