Manab Roy Vs State of West Bengal and Anr. — Child Sexual Offences (POCSO) | Calcutta HC (2024)

Manab Roy Vs State of West Bengal and Anr. — Child Sexual Offences (POCSO) | Calcutta HC (2024)

What the court decided

AI extract

Outcome

Application for bail allowed; petitioner Manab Roy to be released on bail upon a bond of Rs.10,000/- with two sureties of like amount each (one local), subject to movement restrictions within the concerned police station jurisdiction, weekly reporting, non-contact with the victim girl, persons acquainted with the case and her locality until completion of trial, attendance on every hearing date, prohibition on witness intimidation/evidence tampering, with power reserved to the trial court to cancel bail upon unjustified breach.

Issue for consideration

Whether the petitioner, held in custody about 382 days pending trial in Malbazar Police Station Case No. 858 of 2023 (Section 6, POCSO Act 2012), should be enlarged on bail under Section 439 CrPC / Section 483 BNSS 2023 in view of the slow pace of trial proceedings.

Court's answer

The court expressly declined to make any observation on the merits of the case, but granted the prayer for bail on the ground of prolonged custody (about 382 days) coupled with the stalled trial: only the complainant's examination-in-chief done, the victim girl's examination fixed for 16.12.2024, 13 witnesses still to be examined, and consequently no likelihood of early conclusion of the trial.

Ratio / Principle

Finding no reasonable apprehension that the petitioner would abscond or tamper with the witnesses, the court held that in the interest of justice the petitioner should be enlarged on bail.

Key takeaways

Release on bail ordered subject to conditions: bond of Rs.10,000/- with two sureties of like amount each (one local) before the learned Judge, Special Court (under POCSO Act), Malbazar, Jalpaiguri; confinement to the jurisdiction of the concerned police station; weekly reporting to the Officer-in-Charge/Inspector-in-Charge; no meeting the victim girl or persons acquainted with the facts and no entering the locality where the victim girl resides till trial completion; appearance before the trial court on every hearing date; no intimidating witnesses or tampering with evidence; and, on breach of any condition without justifiable cause, liberty for the trial court to cancel the bail in accordance with law without further reference to this court.ratio¶21

Detailed headnote1 paragraphs

Bail granted under Section 439 CrPC / Section 483 BNSS 2023 to petitioner Manab Roy, booked in Malbazar Police Station Case No. 858 of 2023 dated 26.10.2023 under Section 6 of the POCSO Act, 2012. Withholding comment on merits, the Calcutta High Court (Jalpaiguri Circuit Bench) allowed bail purely on ground of prolonged detention (about 382 days) and the remote prospect of early trial conclusion - only the complainant's examination-in-chief taken, complainant absent for cross-examination, victim girl's examination fixed for 16.12.2024 and 13 witnesses pending. Absence of any apprehension of absconding or witness tampering secured enlargement in the interest of justice. Conditional release ordered: Rs.10,000/- bond with two like sureties (one local) before the Special Court (POCSO Act), Malbazar; stay confined to the concerned police station jurisdiction with weekly reporting to the O.C./I.C.; no contact with the victim girl, persons acquainted with the case, or her locality till trial ends; attendance on every hearing date; no witness intimidation or evidence tampering; breach without justifiable cause permits the trial court to cancel bail without further reference to the High Court.

THE HIGH COURT AT CALCUTTA CIRCUIT BENCH AT JALPAIGURI

98

12-11-2024 CRM (DB) No. 540 of 2024

(ct. no.01) S. De (Allowed )

In Re: An application for bail under Section 439 of the Code of Criminal Procedure corresponding to Section 483 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 in connection with Malbazar Police Station Case No. 858 of 2023 dated 26.10.2023 under Section 6 of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act (POCSO), 2012.

And

In the matter of : Manab Roy.

……Petitioner. Ms. Srishti Sarkar, ……for the Petitioner. Mr. Abhijit Sarkar, Ms. Sukanya Adhikary, ……for the State.

Dictated by Biswaroop Chowdhury, J.

Affidavit-of-service filed by the petitioner is taken on record. In spite of service of notice, nobody appears for the de facto complainant.

Learned advocate for the petitioner and the learned advocate for the opposite party/State of West Bengal are present.

Heard learned advocate for the petitioner and learned advocate for the opposite party/State of West Bengal. Perused the materials in the case diary.

2

Learned advocate for the petitioner submits that although her client is in custody for about 382 days but only the examination-in-chief of CSW1/complainant is taken and the cross-examination of the complainant is not done because the complainant is not turning up.

Upon perusal of the materials in the case diary, although it would not be proper to make any observation with regard to the merits of the case but considering the fact that the petitioner is in custody for about 382 days and only the examination-inchief of the complainant is done and the next date is fixed on 16.12.2024 for examination of the victim girl and there are total 13 witnesses to be examined, there may not be any chance of early conclusion of the trial, thus prayer for bail may be considered.

As there is no reasonable apprehension to abscond and tamper of the witnesses, in the interest of justice, the petitioner should be enlarged on bail.

Accordingly, we direct that the petitioner, namely, Manab Roy shall be released on bail upon furnishing a bond of Rs.10,000/- , with two sureties of like amount each, one of whom must be local to the satisfaction of the learned Judge, Special Court (under POCSO Act), Malbazar, Jalpaiguri, and on

3

further conditions that he shall not leave the jurisdiction of the concerned police station and shall report to the Officer-in-Charge/Inspector-in-Charge of the concerned police station once in every week until further orders and on further conditions that the petitioner shall not meet the victim girl and the persons acquainted with the facts of the case and shall not enter the locality where the victim girl resides till completion of the trial.

The petitioner shall appear before the trial Court on every date of hearing until further orders and shall not intimidate the witnesses and/or tamper with evidence in any manner whatsoever.

In the event the petitioner fails to adhere to any of the conditions stipulated above without justifiable cause, the trial court shall be at liberty to cancel the petitioner’s bail in accordance with law without further reference to this court.

The application for bail is, accordingly, allowed.

All parties shall act in terms of server copy of the order downloaded from the official website of this Court.

(Biswaroop Chowdhury, J.)

(Arijit Banerjee, J.)