Himachal Pradesh High Court granted bail to two accused facing charges of abducting a minor for forced marriage under IPC and PCPOA. The court held the investigation was complete and noted another co-accused was already on bail.
Petitioners released on personal bonds of Rs. 50,000 each with one surety.
This page shows the compact analysis of this judgement. The full analysis — procedural history, issue-by-issue holdings with ratio and obiter, advocates, and paragraph-level evidence for every claim — is being added to the record in batches and will appear here when this judgement has been through it.
IN THE HIGH COURT OF HIMACHAL PRADESH, SHIMLA
Cr. MPs(M) No. 580 & 581 of 2017 Decided on: 16th May, 2017
| __________________________________________ 1. Cr.MP(M) No. 580 of 2017: |
________________________ |
|---|---|
Asha Versus |
....Petitioner. |
| State of Himachal Pradesh. | …Respondent. |
| 2. Cr.MP(M) No. 581 of 2017: | |
Ravinder Kumar Versus |
....Petitioner. |
| State of Himachal Pradesh. | …Respondent. |
Coram
The Hon’ble Mr. Justice Chander Bhusan Barowalia, Judge. Whether approved for reporting?1 Yes.
For the petitioner(s) : Mr. K.B. Khajuria, Advocate.. For the respondent(s) : Mr. Pushpinder Jaswal, Dy. AG & Mr. Rajat Chauhan, Law Officer. ASI Bikram Singh, I.O. Police Station Sadar, Chamba. _________________________________________________________________ Chander Bhusan Barowalia, Judge (oral).
The present bail applications have been maintained by
the petitioners under Section 439 of the Code of Criminal Procedure seeking their release in case FIR No. 74 of 2017, dated 18.03.2017, under Sections 363, 366, 506, 120B of Indian Penal Code, 1860 (hereinafter referred to as “IPC”), Section 18 of Prevention of Children from Sexual Offences, Act and Sections 9
1 Whether reporters of Local Papers may be allowed to see the judgment?
and 10 of the Prohibition of Child Marriage Act, registered at Police Station Sadar, Chamba, District Chamba, H.P.
married, so she was locked in a room. The prosecutrix was thrashed and threatened, thus she yielded to the pressure exerted upon her and she finally agreed to marry one Rinku (co-accused), who is real brother of her aunty. On 11.03.2017 she was married with Rinku in a Gurudwara. Ravinder (petitioner in Cr.MP(M) No. 581 of 2017), who is elder brother of Rinku, was also present in the marriage. The prosecutrix, on 12.03.2017, escaped from there and met one Nisha, who alongwith other females, took her to police station. Thereafter, on 13.03.2017, Virnder Gupta @ Kaka, Ex. Pradhan, Subhash, Ward Member, Rakesh, Uncle and her brother took her to Chamba. As per the prosecution, due to fear she did not divulge the incident earlier. Police carried out the investigation and the prosecutrix was medically examined. Statements of the witnesses were also recorded. All the accused, involved in the commission of the crime, were arrested. Statement of the prosecutrix was also recorded under Section 164 Cr.P.C. During the course of investigation spot map was prepared and recoveries were made. As per the prosecution, the investigation in the case is complete and challan is under scrutiny. Lastly, the prosecution has prayed that the bail applications of the petitioners may be dismissed.
petitioners are residents of the place and neither in a position to tamper with the prosecution evidence nor to flee from justice. Investigation in the present matter is complete and nothing remains to be recovered at the instance of the petitioner. He has also argued that co-accused Rinku Thakur has already been enlarged on bail. Conversely, the learned Deputy Advocate General has argued that the petitioners have committed a serious offence and in case they are enlarged on bail they may threaten the prosecutrix and may also tamper with the prosecution evidence, so he prayed that the bail applications of the petitioners may be dismissed.
petitioners be released forthwith on bail, on their furnishing personal bonds to the tune of `50,000/- (rupees fifty thousand only) each with one surety each in the like amount to the satisfaction of learned Trial Court, in case FIR No. 74 of 2017, dated 18.03.2017, under Sections 363, 366, 506, 120B IPC, Section 18 of Prevention of Children from Sexual Offences, Act and Sections 9 and 10 of the Prohibition of Child Marriage Act, registered at Police Station Sadar, Chamba, District Chamba, H.P. The bail is granted subject to the following conditions:
Copy dasti.
(Chander Bhusan Barowalia) 16th May, 2017 Judge
(virender)
3 issues framed by the court
Whether the petitioners charged with child abduction and forced marriage should be granted bail.
Whether the investigation being complete and one co-accused already on bail justify granting bail to the petitioners.
Whether the petitioners pose a threat to tamper with evidence given they are local residents.
4 provisions across 4 enactments
Asha
State of Himachal Pradesh
Ravinder Kumar
Chander Bhusan Barowalia
As recorded by the court registry
Judgements on the same questions, provisions and authorities, from every court
Chander Bhusan Barowalia
Parties & counsel
