The Supreme Court on Wednesday granted anticipatory bail to Indian Youth Congress (IYC) President Srinivas BV in the case filed against him for allegedly outraging a former Congress worker’s modesty.
A Bench of Justices BR Gavai and Sanjay Karol avoided delving into details of the arguments during the anticipatory bail stage. Instead, they concentrated solely on the minimum facts and dates.
“Although arguments have been advanced in length, we do not intend to consider them in depth at this time. It is already established that detailed examination of evidence at anticipatory bail hearings must be avoided. We will only refer to the most basic facts and dates,” the Court stated.
Accordingly, taking into account the month’s delay in filing the first information report (FIR), the Court found that Srinivas was entitled to interim protection.
It ruled that he be freed on anticipatory bail with a bond of ₹50,000 with one or two sureties in the same amount. It ordered the IYC President to cooperate with the investigation and also issued notice to the state of Assam.
The Bench was hearing a petition filed by Srinivas contesting a Gauhati High Court judgement that declined to dismiss the FIR registered against him.
He said that a simple reading of the complaint did not provide the ingredients necessary to determine the alleged violations. It was emphasised that the Assam Police had no jurisdiction to investigate or file a FIR for an alleged crime committed in Chhattisgarh.
In her complaint, the woman alleged that at the Congress Party’s plenary session at the Mayfair Hotel in Raipur on March 25, she was heckled at the hotel’s entry by Srinivas, who allegedly gripped her arms and threatened her with slang words. The complainant alleged that he threatened her with terrible consequences if she revealed the incident to high-ranking Congress Party officials.
Despite telling the Congress Party’s high office bearers about his behaviour, she stated that no action was taken.
