An elderly man who has been accused of rape of a minor was granted bail by a division judge bench of the Supreme Court. The bench relied on DNA evidence disapproving the allegation that he is the father of the minor’s child.
Brief facts of the case
The appellant is an octogenarian and has been accused of raping a minor child and subsequently getting her pregnant. He has been booked under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, 2012.
The victim gave birth in July. The accused, then, has filed for bail in the High Court of Calcutta but he was denied the same.
Subsequently, he decided to approach the Supreme Court filing a Special Leave Petition praying to be enlarged on bail and agreeing to get a DNA test to prove that he is not the father of the complainant’s new-born. The Writ Petition concerning the latter plea is still pending before the High Court.
The complainant and her family are the tenants of the octogenarian appellant. He mentioned the existence of a dispute regarding non-payment of rent between him and the complainant’s family and accused the latter of filing this false case to implicate him.
Arguments
The matter had initially come up last month. Senior Advocate Kapil Sibal represents the appellant. The argument advanced by the Senior Advocate was that due to his old age the appellant he is incapable of sexual activities. And to justify this, he asserted that the complainant is ready to undergo a DNA test. The bench has allowed the same and now the Counsel presents the DNA test report backing up his earlier argument about the complainant not being responsible for the newborn.
Court’s Observation
The bench took note of the DNA report and said it is clear that the appellant is not the father of the child and other sides are ad-idem on that fact.
Hence, the bench observed that they do not have any hesitations in allowing the appellant to be enlarged on bail.
However, discussing the allegations made by the appellant about the complaint being false the Court asked him to take necessary steps under the relevant law laid down for compensation upon being falsely accused.
Court’s Order
The bench comprised of Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul and Justice Ajay Rastogi allowed the bail application. They stated that the terms and conditions of the bail should be laid down to the satisfaction of the Trial Court.
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