Delhi HC Mandates Presence Of Informant Or Authorized Person While Hearing Bail Application Of Accused In Rape Cases

The Delhi High Court has mandated the presence of the informant or any person authorized by him in the court, at the time of hearing of the bail application of a person accused of rape, with immediate effect.

Chief Justice of Delhi High Court, Justice D. N. Patel, made the aforesaid directions on Tuesday in view of the Criminal Law (Amendment) Act, 2018 which had amended Section 439 of CrPC to this effect.

It inserted sub-section 1A to Section 439, obligating the presence of the informant or any person authorized by him at the time of hearing of the bail application of a person of accused of offences triable under Sections 376, 376AB, 376DA and 376DB of IPC.

The onus to notify the informant, particularly in cases where the victim is under 12 years of age, that the bail application has been moved, has been put on the Investigating Officer who will also file a status report in this regard.

The court's direction read,

"The Courts shall ensure that the Investigating Officer has, in writing as per Annexure A, communicated to the informant or any person authorized by her that her presence is obligatory at the time of hearing of the application for bail to the person under sub-section (3) of section 376 or section 376-AB or section 376-DA or section 376-DB of the Indian Penal Code. Annexure A shall be filed by the I.O. along with the Reply / Status Report to such bail application and the Courts shall make all endeavour to ensure presence of the informant or any person authorized by her."

The court has also mandated the High Court as well as the Court of Session to give a notice of bail application to the Public Prosecutor, before granting bail to a person accused of the aforesaid offences, within fifteen days from the date of receipt of such application, in view of a proviso that was added to Section 439(1) under the Amendment Act.

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