In a relief to the prime accused in a case pertaining to sexual harassment of a woman journalist, the Punjab and Haryana High Court has directed that he should be released on interim bail, in case of arrest, till May 1.
The court has asked him to join the investigation. Judge Hari Pal Verma, in his order dated March 6, said petitioner Rashpal Singh Bhardwaj, the accused in the case, should be released on “ad interim bail to the satisfaction of the arresting officer” in the event of his arrest.
The court also directed the accused to join the investigation as and when directed by the investigation agency and abide by the terms and conditions laid down under Section 438 (2) of the Criminal Procedure Code.
The matter has been fixed for hearing on May 1.
Earlier, the counsel for the accused had pleaded through a petition to the court that except Section 354 and 505 (2) of the Indian Penal Code invoked in the FIR, all the other sections were bailable.
The counsel argued that since the working of the complainant was not satisfactory, his client had called for an explanation and it had led to her displeasure.
The complainant, working at an English daily in Gurugram, had registered an FIR against Rashpal and three other journalists this past month accusing them of making sexual advances and defaming her.
