The Supreme Court has overturned the Allahabad High Court’s decision to grant bail to a police officer accused of raping a 13-year-old girl who was brought to a police station in Uttar Pradesh to report an alleged sexual assault by four individuals.
What the court said?
The apex court stated that there is no justification for granting bail to the accused, who was the Station House Officer (SHO) and purportedly misused his position to commit the “same heinous crime” of raping the minor victim.
A bench comprising justices A S Bopanna and Sanjay Kumar issued the order in response to a plea filed by the victim’s mother challenging the high court’s March 2 order from last year.
“In the present case, the situation is far worse as respondent no.1, being the station house officer of the police station, where the minor victim girl was brought for securing her justice, is alleged to have resorted to committing the same heinous crime of raping her,” the bench stated.
“In this situation, his prayer for grant of bail required more than the cursory appraisal that was bestowed by the high court. We do not find any reasons worth the name justifying the grant of bail to respondent no.1 at this stage,” it added. The appeal filed by the victim’s mother was allowed by the bench, which set aside the high court’s order.
The bench directed the accused to surrender immediately, failing which the state authorities would take necessary steps to apprehend him and place him in judicial custody.
Victim’s Mother Moves SC
Senior advocate H S Phoolka represented the victim’s mother in the case. She had approached the apex court against the high court’s decision to grant bail to the accused in an FIR lodged for alleged offences under various sections of the Indian Penal Code, including rape, and under the provisions of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, 2012, and the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989. In its order, the Supreme Court observed that according to the prosecution, the minor girl was placed in the custody of the SHO on April 27, 2022, in connection with registering a complaint against four men who were alleged to have sexually assaulted her.
