A Delhi court has granted anticipatory bail to a man, a government employee, after noting that the allegations of rape made against him by his wife have come after a lapse of considerable time.
Additional Sessions Judge Gagandeep Singh noted in his order, passed on December 10, that in the woman’s complaint to the Crime Against Women Cell (CAW), the details with regard to the incident, that allegedly took place on August 13, are completely silent regarding the allegations of rape.
The accused in the case, Pardeep Kumar Khatri, who works as a junior assistant in the Department of Training and Technical Education, was booked under IPC Sections 376 pertaining to rape, and 498A which pertains to harassment of woman. Mr. Khatri’s wife alleged that the incident took place on August 13 but the FIR was lodged several days later on September 8.
The accused’s brother, Khushi Ram Khatri, was also named in the FIR, and was granted regular bail in the case.
Police harassment
Pertaining to the delay in lodging the FIR argued by the accused’s counsel, the court noted that the delay has been explained by claiming that the police officers refused to record her statement on one or the other pretext, “but the plethora of documents filed on record on behalf of the accused/applicants reflect otherwise”.
The court further said that several handwritten complaints have been lodged by the complainant regarding the matrimonial dispute and that she was being harassed by the police authorities with the last complaint dated September 2. “It is a detailed complaint to CAW cell wherein several incidents have been mentioned. The details of the incident are completely silent with regard to allegations of rape,” the court order read.
Veracity of claims
With regard to CCTV footage placed by the accused before the court, ASJ Singh stated that the said CCTV also puts a question mark over the veracity of the allegations levelled by the complainant. “The said CCTV footage was not collected by the investigation authority for the reasons best known to them and the same has been collected now only in pursuance of the last order on December 1,” the court order read.
Hence, noting that the accused’s custodial interrogation is not required and that there is no possibility of the accused fleeing away, the court granted anticipatory bail to Mr. Khatri, who was represented by Advocate Pradeep Khatri.
