Delhi High Court Cancels Bail Of 72 Yrs Old Accused In POCSO Case

The petitioner/ complainant had filed a petition under Article 227, read with Section 439(2) CrPC, assailing the order granting bail to the accused.

While refraining from commenting on the merits of the case, Justice Manoj Ohri observed,

"On a prima facie view of the statements of the child victim during investigation and trial as well as her MLC, this Court is inclined to interfere with the impugned order granting bail to respondent No. 2, as the same suffers from perversity and is unsustainable under the facts and circumstances of the case."

The Bench also noted that on cross-examination, the child-victim had correctly identified the accused, she denied the suggestion that no such incident had taken place and also denied the suggestion that she was deposing falsely at the instance of her mother.

The counsel for the Petitioner, Advocate Ashish Kumar had argued that the accused has been granted bail on extraneous reasons. He pointed to the victim's statement that, after committing the offence, the accused had threatened the victim to not report the incident to the police and also threatened her life. Previously, the accused had applied for bail two times, both of which were dismissed.

APP Sanjeev Sabharwal, appearing for the State, also supported the petition and submitted that the child victim made consistent statements that stand corroborated with the FSL examination and her Medico-Legal Case .

Counsel for the accused submitted that the accused has been falsely implicated and as a 72 year old man, he has already remained in custody for about 16 months.

"The concession of regular bail granted to respondent No. 2 stands withdrawn. The bail bonds are cancelled and respondent No. 2 is directed to surrender before the concerned jail authority forthwith," the Court ordered.

Case Title: Miss M (Minor) v. State of NCT Delhi & Anr., Crl. M. C. 1909/2020

Citation: 2022 LiveLaw (Del) 65