Delay in filing plaint: High Court grants bail to rape accused

The High Court on Tuesday granted bail to a 28-year-old youth from the City, who was booked for raping a minor girl, on the grounds that the complaint was filed a year after the incident and the reason for the delay was not explained.

Hearing a bail plea by Sunil Kumar, who worked at a local dhaba, Justice C R Kumaraswamy granted him bail on the grounds of delay in filing the complaint and observed, “Looking at the petition, the complaint was filed after one year.

It indicates that she was threatened for a year and hence she did not come out and lodge a complaint. No doubt there was a threat. Even if there is a threat, one can wait for two months or three. In this case, she remained silent for one year. The delay is abnormal.”

The case

Sunil Kumar was allegedly in a live-in relationship with the victim’s mother, whereas the victim who was living with her aunt had moved to her mother’s place recently. Her father had deserted them eight years ago.

The girl alleged that in 2013, when she was doing her first PU, the accused raped her in the absence of her mother.

She further alleged that he raped her for a year and threatened to release her obscene pictures if she revealed their affair to her mother or anyone else.

The victim claimed that during this time, she also conceived and underwent abortion. Later, she lodged a complaint with the Kumbalgodu police and Kumar was booked for rape and child abuse. After being denied bail by the lower court, he approached the High Court.

The counsel for the accused, in his submission, said the petitioner had been falsely implicated by the victim at the behest of her mother and contended that there was a delay in filing a complaint which indicated the victim’s consent.

Moreover, he contended that the investigation in the case was over and the police had already filed a charge sheet.

The public prosecutor objected to the bail saying that the girl was a minor and medical reports indicated she was sexually assaulted.

However, the petitioners countered, saying the medical report indicated past sexual intercourse and not in recent times.


Notice to Bar Council

The High Court has ordered an emergent notice to the Bar Council of India (BCI) in connection with an appeal challenging the rules prescribing the eligibility for LLB graduation.

The appellant, Manjunath, had challenged the rules framed by the BCI fixing the eligibility for law studies.

The BCI had stated that graduation by correspondence course was not recognised by it, as the degree thus obtained was without basic qualification.

Hearing the petition, Justice Anand Byra Reddy, in March 2014, had allowed the petitioner to complete the law course he had joined, but ruled that he cannot enrol for practice.