Dismissed

Mr. Sourav Ghosh v. State of Telangana

Telangana HC8 Nov 2021CRLP/7032/2021

Case brief

AI extract

What is this about?

The High Court rejected the grant of anticipatory bail to a petitioner accused of raping a minor and offsetting others. The Court held that the gravity of the offences justified refusal and directed the accused to surrender within two weeks to seek regular bail.

What did the court decide?

Rejected petition for anticipatory bail; directed petitioner to surrender within two weeks to file for regular bail.

Mr. Sourav Ghosh Vs State of Telangana — Child Sexual Offences (POCSO) | Telangana HC (2021)

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IN THE HIGH COURT^{FORTHE STATEOF TELANGANA} AT HYDERABAD

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MONDAY. THE EIGHTH^{DAY OF NOVEMBER} TWO THOUSAND^ANDTWENTYONE

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PRESENT

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THE HONOURABLE JUSTICE^{G. SRI DEVI}

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CRIMINAL PET ITION^{NO:7032 0F 2021}

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Between:

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lVlr. Sourav Ghosh, S/o.Swapan^{Ghosh, aged 33 years occ.ProfessorR/o Flat} No aos-fJ.rftv Housing^{ainola University Distrrct Sdnepat, Haryana-131029}

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...PETITIONEFYACCUSED

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AND

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1 State of Telangana,^{rep.by its Public Prosecutor,High Court, Hyderabad}

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2 Smt' Shika Trivedi^{W/o, Bhaskar ShuklaAge: 36 years, occl Pri'vateTeacher} - nlo. f rat No. 401, Venkatsurya Enclave Ap1s, Shilpa Park, Kondapur' Serilingampally^{Mandal,RangaReddy District.}

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( As per the Court order dated 8-11-2021 in l.A^{No- 2/21 R 2 is rmpladedin} ...RESPoNDENT/coMPLAINANr C,i"druo' z'oii tz\l

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Petition under section^{438 of cr.P. c praying that in the circumstancesstated} in the Memorandum^{of Grounds of Criminal Petition, the High Court may be pleased} to grant anticipatory^{batl to the petitionerand direct the respondentto release} petitioner on bail in lhe event^{of his arrest in connectionFlR.No.658 of 2021 as the} file of the SHO.,P S. Madhapur^{(Guttla) Cybderabad}

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l.A. NO; 1 OF 2021

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Between:

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Mrs.shikha Trivedi Shukla,^{Wo. Bhasker Shukla, aged 36 years, occ Private Teacher,} R/o Flat No. 401,^{Venkat Surya EnclaveApartments, Shilpa Park, Kondapur'} Hyderabad

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..... Petitionerl Defacto-ComplainanWictimi^{Proposed Respondent No'2}

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AND

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l,MrSouravGhosh,S/o'swapanGhosh,agedabout33years,occPofessorR/o,Flat No.4O3,FacultyHousingAshokaUniversityDistrict,sonepat,Haryana-131029.

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,.RESPONDENT/PETITIONERS

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The State of Telangana,^{represented by Public Prosecutor, High court of Telangana} ""'RESPONDENT/RESPONDENT at Hyderabad

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l.A. NO.1 0F 2021

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Petition under Section^{301(2)RA// 482 ot Cr'P C praying that in the} circumstances stated^{in the Memorandum of Grounds of criminalPetition,theHigh}

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Court may be^pleased to^grant the^{permissionto the petitioner to assist the Public} Prosecutor in opposing the anticipatory baii^{petition in} QrlP.703212021^.

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This Petition coming on for hearing, upon^perusing the^Memorandumof Grounds of Criminal Petition and^upon h??I:S^{the argumentsof Sri EV} Venugopal, Advocate for the Petitioner and therPublic^{Prosecutor(TG) on behalf of} the Respondent. No^'l and Sri P. Avinash , Advocate^{for the RespondentNo. 2}

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The Court made the following: ORDER

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THE HONOURABLE JUSTICE G. SRIDEVI

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CRIMINAL PETITION No.7032 ot 2021

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ORDER:

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This Criminal Petition, under Section 438 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973, is filed by the^{petitioner/accused} seeking to grant anticipatory bail in the event of his arrest in Cr.No.65B of 2021 on the file of Madhapur^(Guttala) Police Station, Cyberabad District, registered for the offences under Section 376(2)(f)(n), 506 IPC and under Section 7 read with Section B of POCSO Acl,2012.

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Heard learned counsel appearing for the petitioner/accused, learned Assistant Public Prosecutor appearing for the respondentState and perused the record.

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The prosecution case is that on 23.02.2021 , the entire family of the de-facto complainant were in the Hospital for taking care of her ailing father-in-law, and taking advantage, when the accused being her brother-in-law was trying to commit rape on her minor daughter, she tried to drag her daughter, then the accused has committed rape forcibly on her and he also threatened to kill her and her daughter

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Learned counsel for the^{petitioner/accused} submits that the petitioner being Professor at Ashoka University, Sonepat, Haryana, has an unblemished record and he has been falsely implicated in the present crime. He further submits that the husband of the de-facto complainant has sexually abused the wife of the^petitioner, due to which she was suffering with serious depression and due to differences, a false complaint is filed against the petitioner. He also submits that the petitioner has no criminal antecedents^prior to the

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-.,_

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alleged occurrence and he is a^{law abiding citizen and ready to} abide by any condition that^{may be imposedby this Court in the} event of his enlargement on anticipatory^bail.

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Learned Assistant Public Prosecutor^{vehemently opposed to} grant anticipatory bail to the^petitioner.

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A^perusal of the complaint^{and the statements of the victim} and the victim minor^{girl recorded underSection 164 Cr.P.C., would} show that there are specific and^{graveallegations againstthe} petitioner regarding commission of the crime against them.^ln Sushila Aggarwal and others vs. State^{(NCT of DELHI)and}

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anotherl, the Apex Court held as^under:

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"(3) Nothing in Section 438 Cr. PC, compels or^{obliges courtsto impose} conditions limiting relief in terms of^{time,or upon filingof FlR,or recording of} statement of any witness, by the^{police,during investigation or inquiry,etc,} While considering an application^{(for grantof anticipatory bail)the court hasto} consider the nature of the offence,^{the role of the person,the likelihoodof his} influencing the course of investigation, or^{tamperingwith evidence(including} intimidating witnesses), likelihood of fleeing^{justice (such as leaving the country),} etc. The courls would be^justified -^{and oughtto impose conditions spelt outin} Section 437^(3), Cr. PC lby virtue of Section^{438 (2)]. The need to impose other} reskictive conditions, would have to be^judgedon a^{case by case basis, and} depending upon the materials^produced by^{the state or the investigating agency.} Such special or other restrictive conditions^{may be imposedif the case or cases} warrant, but should not be imposed in a routine^{manner,in all cases}

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Likewise, conditions which limit the^{grantof anticipatorybail may be granted, if} they are required in the facts of any^case or^{cases; however,such limiting} conditions may not be invariably imposed.

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(4) Courts ought to be generally guided by considerations such as^{the nature} and gravity of the offences, the role attributed to^{the applicant,and thefacts of} the case, while considering whether to^{grantanticipatorybail,or refuseit.} Whether to^grant or not is a matter of discretion;^{equally whether and if so, what} kind of special conditions are to be imposed^{(or not imposed) are dependenton} facts of the case, and subject to the discretion^{of the court.}

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' lzozols^ttcct

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(5) Anticipatory bail granted can, depending on the conduct and behavior of the accused, continue after filing of the charge sheet till end of trial.

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(6) An order of anticipatory bail should not be "blanket" in the sense that it should not enable the accused to commit further oflences and claim relief of indefinite p/otection from arrest. lt should be confined to the offence or incident, for which apprehension of arrest is sought. in relation to a specific incident. lt cannot operate in respect of a future incident that involves commission of an otfence.

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Thus, looking into the gravity of the offences and the involvement of petitioner in commission of the crime, lam not inclined to grant anticipatory bail to him and accordingly, his^prayer for anticipatory bail is rejected. However, the^{petitioner/accused} is directed to surrender before the Court concerned within two weeks from today, and on such surrender and on filing an application for regular bail, the Court concerned shall consider the same in accordance with law.

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