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1991 DIGILAW 41 (ORI)

GURUMURTI DIGAL v. ASHOK KUMAR DIGAL

1991-02-19

G.B.PATTANAIK

body1991
G. B. PATTANAIK, J. ( 1 ) THE father of the victim girl has invoked the jurisdiction of this Court u/ S 439 (2) of the Code of Criminal Procedure for cancelling the bail of opposite party No. 1 against whom the allegation is that he kidnapped the minor victim girl Gitanjali and committed rape on her. The petitioner lodged the FIR on 6-6-1990 at 12 Noon stating therein that his daughter Gitanjali was not found from the house since 1-6-1990. After expiry of 4 days on getting intimation that Gitanjali was seen in the company of opposite party No. 1 at Jigina Gaon, the petitioner went and rescued his daughter. It was learnt from the daughter that opposite party No. 1 had committed rape on her on several occasions by temptation and by force and, therefore, appropriate criminal action should be taken. Opposite party No. 1 was taken into custody on 9-6-1990. The said opposite party No. 1 having moved an application for bail, the learned Sessions Judge disposed of the application releasing opposite party No. 1 on bail without getting the case diary and without knowing the materials against opposite party No. 1. The petitioner has, therefore, approached this Court for cancellation of bail of opposite party No. 1. Pursuant to notice, opposite party No. 1 has entered appearance through counsel. ( 2 ) MR. Rath for the petitioner contends that in view of the gravity of the offence and in view of the statement of the victim girl clearly indicating how the accused-opposite party No. 1 committed rape on her, the learned Sessions Judge arbitrarily and whimsically released opposite party No. 1 on bail and thereby there has been gross miscarriage of justice and the learned Sessions Judge has committed serious lapse in exercise of his judicial discretion by releasing opposite party No. 1 on bail merely on the ground that the case diary had not been produced before him inspite of repeated requests. Mr. P. K. Misra, the learned counsel for opposite party No. 1, on the other hand, contends that the Sessions Judge having exercised his discretion and having granted bail and no new material pointing to the guilt of the accused having been discovered, the order releasing opposite party No. 1 on bail need not be lightly interfered with by this Court u/ S. 439 (2) of the Code of Criminal Procedure. Mr. Mr. Misra further contends that in view of the medical evidence, it cannot be said that there is any prima facie case against opposite party No. 1 of having committed rape on the victim girl. ( 3 ) IN course of hearing of this application, the case diary was produced before me. The father in the first information report has indicated that the age of the victim girl is 13 years. The victim girl in her statement u/s. 161 of the Code of Criminal Procedure has vividly described as to how accused- opposite party No. 1 committed rape on her on several occasions. The statement of one Surekha Digal, wife of Kartik Digal corroborates the fact that the accused took the victim girl and had approached her to give shelter at night and before her the victim girl had also indicated that the accused had committed rape on her. Several other statements of witnesses in the case diary corroborate the fact that the victim girl had narrated before them about the incident after the victim girl was found from the company of the accused. The victim girl was examined by the doctor on 7-6-1990 and the doctor reported that there was no sign of recent sexual intercourse, but the girl had sexual inter-course. The vaginal fluid from the victim girl having been examined by the Pathology Specialist, it was found that there were very few dead spermatozoa. The Radiologist after ossification test has opined that the age of the girl would be more than 15 years and less than 17 years. ( 4 ) IN the aforesaid state of affairs, the question that arises for consideration is whether the learned Sessions Judge was at all justified in releasing opposite party No. 1 on bail. From the materials on record, referred to earlier, there cannot be any manner of doubt that there is prima facie evidence of commission of rape by accused-opposite party No. 1 on the victim girl. On examining the impugned order of the learned Sessions Judge, it appears that the Sessions Judge has taken the view that the case diary was not produced because on production of the same, the medical examination report and the ossification test would be adverse to the prosecution. It further appears that the Sessions Judge was no prepared to accept the solitary statement of he victim girl. It further appears that the Sessions Judge was no prepared to accept the solitary statement of he victim girl. At this stage, the learned, Sessions Judge should not have released the accused on bail even on the solitary statement of the victim girl who has given a vivid account of commission of rape on her by the accused-opposite party No. 1. When the statement of the victim girl is to the effect that the accused committed sexual intercourse against her wish and by threat, the age of the girl is immaterial for the offence. The fact whether the offence of rape has been committed or not usually depends upon the credibility of the woman so far as the essential ingredients of the offence are concerned, the other evidence being merely corroborative. In view of the materials available on record in the present case, referred to earlier, 1 have no hesitation to hold that the learned Sessions Judge committed gross error in exercising his discretion by releasing opposite party No. 1 on bail in a serious offence like commission of rape It is well settled that if the High Court comes to the conclusion that bail has been granted to an accused by a lower court in a manner which smacks of arbitrariness or perversity on its part, then the High Court has a duty to cancel the bail and to order re-arrest of the accused in exercise of power under sub-sec. (2) of S. 439 of the Code of Criminal Procedure. In the facts and circumstances of the present case, I am, therefore, of the considered opinion that opposite party No. 1 was not entitled to be released on bail and interest of justice demands the cancellation of the same. The bail in this case has been illegally and improperly granted by the learned Sessions Judge which has caused grave miscarriage of justice and accordingly this Court must interfere with the said order and cancel the bail that has been granted. Accordingly, I hereby cancel the bail bond furnished by the accused (opposite party No. 1) who is directed to surrender forthwith and in the event the accused does not surrender then appropriate steps for apprehending him be taken in accordance with law. This application is allowed. Application allowed.