High Court · 2025

Hon'ble Nalin Kumar Srivastava,J.

1. Although name of the counsel for the respondent no.2 is printed and his vakalatnama is on record but none is present on behalf of respondent no.2 even in the revised call.

2. Rejoinder affidavit filed today is taken on record.

3. This criminal appeal under Section 14-A (2) Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act has been preferred by the appellant - Bulet Shah @ Khesari with the prayer to set aside the bail rejection order dated 30.7.2024 passed by Special Judge (SC/ST Act), Deoria and release the appellant on bail in Case Crime No.144 of 2024 under Sections 376(2)(N), 504, 506, 120-B IPC, Section 67 Information Technology Act and Section 3(2)(V) S.C./S.T. Act, Police Station Khampur, District Deoria.

4. Heard learned counsel for the appellant, learned A.G.A. for the State and perused the entire record.

5. The prosecution story, as unfolded in the F.I.R., is that on the instruction of the present accused appellant, one village girl Isha anyhow procured nude photograph of the victim at the time of taking bath and sent it to the mobile of Khesari, the accused appellant. The said photograph was converted into video and made viral on social sites by the accused appellant and on the basis of that the victim was blackmailed and physical relations were made by the accused with her on many occasions. She was also abused by caste related remarks by the accused appellant. He has also taken with him some other village persons to help him. Subsequently F.I.R. was lodged and investigation is going on.

6. It is submitted by the learned counsel for the appellant that the appellant is innocent and has been falsely implicated in this case. He has not committed the present offence. Alleged offences are not attracted against him. It is also submitted that the prosecution story is totally false and fabricated. It is further submitted that no offence of rape has been committed by the appellant. Nude photograph of the prosecutrix was not prepared or taken by the appellant and as per prosecution case, the said photograph was taken by Isha d/o Rajan Chauhan. It is also submitted that no video in respect of the said photograph was prepared or made viral by the appellant. Appellant has made no criminal conspiracy with other village persons to commit sexual harassment of the victim. It is also submitted that the victim of this case is a married lady and mother of some children. It is also submitted that the appellant never sent any obscene photograph of the victim on her mobile. It is also submitted that the medical report does not corroborate the prosecution version. As a matter of fact, the victim and her husband borrowed Rs.2,86,000/- in the year 2022 through bank account and when the same was demanded by the appellant, the present false F.I.R. was lodged against him. It is also submitted that the appellant is languishing in jail since 5.7.2024. Criminal history of the appellant has been properly explained. It is further submitted that the bail application of the appellant has been rejected in an illegal manner by the Special Judge (S.C./S.T. Act), Deoria. It is further submitted that the Court concerned while passing the impugned order did not take into account the facts and evidence available on record in right perspective and erred in passing the same. It is lastly submitted that the impugned order rejecting the bail application of the appellant suffers from infirmity and illegality warranting interference by this Court.

6. On the other hand, learned A.G.A. has vehemently opposed the present appeal and it has been submitted that ample and sufficient evidence has been collected by the Investigating Officer against the present accused appellant. On his instructions, the village girl Isha d/o Rajan Chauhan procured objectionable photograph of the victim and when it was sent to the mobile phone of the present accused appellant, he made it viral and by threatening and blackmailing the victim, he caused sexual harassment of the victim and rape was also committed as well. It is also submitted that the victim has provided a SIM and Pen Drive to the Investigating Officer of this case and the obscene video was saved in the said Pen Drive. The Investigating Officer has also perused the said Pen Drive / Video wherein it was seen that the present accused appellant is making video call to the victim and also threatening the victim to make the video viral and some sexual contents relating to the victim were also seen in the video. It is also submitted that the victim in her statement recorded under sections 161 and 164 Cr.P.C. has fully corroborated the prosecution version. The present appellant is the mastermind of the entire occurrence and on his initiation, the obscene video relating to the victim was made viral by so many persons. It is also submitted that this fact finds support from the statement of co-accused persons of this case recorded by the I.O. It is also submitted that the whole story of money lending manufactured by the accused appellant is totally false. It is also submitted that the appellant committed the present offence having knowledge that the victim belonged to S.C./S.T. Community. There is no infirmity or illegality in the impugned order. It is also submitted that there is no evidence on record to the effect that the prosecutrix had been a consenting party with the accused appellant. It is also submitted that the prosecutrix belonged to weaker section of the Society and ample evidence was collected by the I.O. against the present accused appellant as well and his active participation in the commission of the crime has come into light on the basis of the evidence collected during investigation. Offence is very grave and serious in nature and the prayer for rejection of the bail application and dismissal of appeal as well has been made.

7. I have considered the rival submissions made by the learned counsel for the parties and have gone through the entire record including the impugned order carefully.

8. Considering the facts and circumstances of the case and keeping in view the fact that the victim, who is a married lady, never gave her consent for physical relations with the appellant and on the basis of some alleged obscene video she was blackmailed/threatened by the accused appellant and rape was committed with her repeatedly, it appears from the arguments advanced by the counsel for the parties and from perusal of material on record that the court concerned has properly considered the case of the appellant. There is no illegality or perversity in the impugned order. Hence, in view of the above consideration, the order of rejection of bail passed by the court concerned dated 30.7.2024 is affirmed. No ground is made out to release the accused appellant on bail and the appeal is liable to be dismissed.

9. Accordingly, this appeal is dismissed. Order Date :- 23.1.2025 SANDEEP SHARMA High Court of Judicature at Allahabad

Hon'ble Nalin Kumar Srivastava,J.

1. Although name of the counsel for the respondent no.2 is printed and his vakalatnama is on record but none is present on behalf of respondent no.2 even in the revised call.

2. Rejoinder affidavit filed today is taken on record.

3. This criminal appeal under Section 14-A (2) Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act has been preferred by the appellant - Bulet Shah @ Khesari with the prayer to set aside the bail rejection order dated 30.7.2024 passed by Special Judge (SC/ST Act), Deoria and release the appellant on bail in Case Crime No.144 of 2024 under Sections 376(2)(N), 504, 506, 120-B IPC, Section 67 Information Technology Act and Section 3(2)(V) S.C./S.T. Act, Police Station Khampur, District Deoria.

4. Heard learned counsel for the appellant, learned A.G.A. for the State and perused the entire record.

5. The prosecution story, as unfolded in the F.I.R., is that on the instruction of the present accused appellant, one village girl Isha anyhow procured nude photograph of the victim at the time of taking bath and sent it to the mobile of Khesari, the accused appellant. The said photograph was converted into video and made viral on social sites by the accused appellant and on the basis of that the victim was blackmailed and physical relations were made by the accused with her on many occasions. She was also abused by caste related remarks by the accused appellant. He has also taken with him some other village persons to help him. Subsequently F.I.R. was lodged and investigation is going on.

6. It is submitted by the learned counsel for the appellant that the appellant is innocent and has been falsely implicated in this case. He has not committed the present offence. Alleged offences are not attracted against him. It is also submitted that the prosecution story is totally false and fabricated. It is further submitted that no offence of rape has been committed by the appellant. Nude photograph of the prosecutrix was not prepared or taken by the appellant and as per prosecution case, the said photograph was taken by Isha d/o Rajan Chauhan. It is also submitted that no video in respect of the said photograph was prepared or made viral by the appellant. Appellant has made no criminal conspiracy with other village persons to commit sexual harassment of the victim. It is also submitted that the victim of this case is a married lady and mother of some children. It is also submitted that the appellant never sent any obscene photograph of the victim on her mobile. It is also submitted that the medical report does not corroborate the prosecution version. As a matter of fact, the victim and her husband borrowed Rs.2,86,000/- in the year 2022 through bank account and when the same was demanded by the appellant, the present false F.I.R. was lodged against him. It is also submitted that the appellant is languishing in jail since 5.7.2024. Criminal history of the appellant has been properly explained. It is further submitted that the bail application of the appellant has been rejected in an illegal manner by the Special Judge (S.C./S.T. Act), Deoria. It is further submitted that the Court concerned while passing the impugned order did not take into account the facts and evidence available on record in right perspective and erred in passing the same. It is lastly submitted that the impugned order rejecting the bail application of the appellant suffers from infirmity and illegality warranting interference by this Court.

6. On the other hand, learned A.G.A. has vehemently opposed the present appeal and it has been submitted that ample and sufficient evidence has been collected by the Investigating Officer against the present accused appellant. On his instructions, the village girl Isha d/o Rajan Chauhan procured objectionable photograph of the victim and when it was sent to the mobile phone of the present accused appellant, he made it viral and by threatening and blackmailing the victim, he caused sexual harassment of the victim and rape was also committed as well. It is also submitted that the victim has provided a SIM and Pen Drive to the Investigating Officer of this case and the obscene video was saved in the said Pen Drive. The Investigating Officer has also perused the said Pen Drive / Video wherein it was seen that the present accused appellant is making video call to the victim and also threatening the victim to make the video viral and some sexual contents relating to the victim were also seen in the video. It is also submitted that the victim in her statement recorded under sections 161 and 164 Cr.P.C. has fully corroborated the prosecution version. The present appellant is the mastermind of the entire occurrence and on his initiation, the obscene video relating to the victim was made viral by so many persons. It is also submitted that this fact finds support from the statement of co-accused persons of this case recorded by the I.O. It is also submitted that the whole story of money lending manufactured by the accused appellant is totally false. It is also submitted that the appellant committed the present offence having knowledge that the victim belonged to S.C./S.T. Community. There is no infirmity or illegality in the impugned order. It is also submitted that there is no evidence on record to the effect that the prosecutrix had been a consenting party with the accused appellant. It is also submitted that the prosecutrix belonged to weaker section of the Society and ample evidence was collected by the I.O. against the present accused appellant as well and his active participation in the commission of the crime has come into light on the basis of the evidence collected during investigation. Offence is very grave and serious in nature and the prayer for rejection of the bail application and dismissal of appeal as well has been made.

7. I have considered the rival submissions made by the learned counsel for the parties and have gone through the entire record including the impugned order carefully.

8. Considering the facts and circumstances of the case and keeping in view the fact that the victim, who is a married lady, never gave her consent for physical relations with the appellant and on the basis of some alleged obscene video she was blackmailed/threatened by the accused appellant and rape was committed with her repeatedly, it appears from the arguments advanced by the counsel for the parties and from perusal of material on record that the court concerned has properly considered the case of the appellant. There is no illegality or perversity in the impugned order. Hence, in view of the above consideration, the order of rejection of bail passed by the court concerned dated 30.7.2024 is affirmed. No ground is made out to release the accused appellant on bail and the appeal is liable to be dismissed.

9. Accordingly, this appeal is dismissed. Order Date :- 23.1.2025 SANDEEP SHARMA High Court of Judicature at Allahabad