The Supreme Court on Friday rejected a plea to cancel anticipatory bail granted to a Mumbai-based TV anchor in a rape case lodged here in February this year.
A bench of Justices Navin Sinha and Ajay Rastogi said there is no ground made out to interfere with the Delhi High Court order.
Senior advocate Nithya Ramakrishnan, appearing for the victim, claimed that the High Court granted bail disregarding statutory changes in the rape law, and it also virtually granted benefit on doubt on a selective reading of Section 164 CrPC statement too. The HC failed to consider for 50 days, the accused evaded arrest, she said.
The bench queried the victim’s counsel, "Our question is, purely for purpose of bail only, a question of normal human conduct and understanding."
"If a man and woman are in a room, and man makes a request and woman complies with it, do we need to say anything more at this stage?" the bench asked.
The victim’s counsel contended the IPC stated that to each act there has to be unequivocal consent.
"If there is a particular act man wants to indulge in, and there is no consent, then it is an offence, and there was no continued consent," she said.
The bench, however, replied that it is not impressed with the argument.
The court was hearing a plea by the rape victim challenging the Delhi High Court's order of May 13 granting pre-arrest bail to Mumbai TV journalist Varun Hiremath.
The High Court had granted interim protection to Hiremath on the condition that he would join the investigation whenever required.
A Delhi court had earlier issued a non-bailable warrant against Hiremath. The trial court had in March declined to entertain Hiremath’s anticipatory bail application in the case.
(Published 04 June 2021, 10:16 IST)
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