High Court of Himachal Pradesh: A Single Judge Bench comprising of Chander Bhusan Barowalia, J., decided a criminal miscellaneous petition, wherein the petitioner-accused was granted anticipatory bail in a criminal case registered under Sections 328 and 376 of IPC, giving due consideration to the fact of marriage between the petitioner and the prosecutrix.
The case against the petitioner was that he and the prosecutrix worked in the same company. The petitioner invited the prosecutrix to her house on the pretext that he wanted her to meet his parents. However, when the prosecutrix reached his house, the petitioner gave her drink and sexually assaulted her, made MMS and subsequently blackmailed the prosecutrix on various occasions. It was also alleged that the petitioner promised to marry the prosecutrix and even on that pretext, sexually assaulted her many times. The petitioner submitted that he was innocent and prayed to be released on bail.
The High Court perused the record and found that in her statement under Sections 161 and 164 of CrPC, the prosecutrix stated that in subsequent events, the petitioner had married her, which fact was found to be true in the police investigation. She also stated that the petitioner had not prepared any MMS or clicked her obscene photos. Considering the statement of the prosecutrix and in light of the fact that the petitioner and the prosecutrix have been married; the Court thought it to be a fit case to exercise its judicial discretion in favor of the petitioner. Accordingly, the petitioner was granted anticipatory bail, subject to the conditions imposed. [Amarjit Singh v. State of H.P., 2018 SCC OnLine HP 2, order dated 1.1.2018]
