Mumbai: Bombay High Court grants bail to preacher accused of rape

Asks why woman had not lodged complaint earlier; FIR was filed month ago

The Bombay High Court on Saturday granted pre-arrest bail to a 69-year-old businessman-turned-spiritual preacher from Kamothe, Panvel, who is accused of raping a woman over the past 28 years. The victim who said she was a minor at the time of the incident, registered her complaint in the Revdanda police station in Alibaug over a month ago, almost 28 years after getting acquainted with the accused. The court, before granting bail, made serious observations on the prosecution's case in its order.

The prosecution's case

In its order, the court observed that the case of the prosecution is that the complainant left her home in 1994, along with gold ornaments worth 12 tolas and Rs3.50 lakh in cash, after the death of her parents at the age of 12 years. It is further claimed by the woman that she thereafter came in contact with the accused and handed him the cash and gold ornaments, which he used for his own benefit besides allegedly sexually exploiting her.

Advocate Dinesh Tiwari

The court's observation

The court in its observation, stated, “At face value even if the story narrated by the victim is appreciated, the same is at all not reposing confidence. She herself admits that she has remained in contact with the accused for the last 28 years. No explanation is coming forth as to why for the last 28 years she had not lodged a complaint particularly when she was in contact with a number of people, as could be inferred from the contents of the FIR. The perusal of the FIR, rather, speaks of a concocted theory based on which the false implication of the applicant can be inferred and therefore the case for grant of ad-interim protection is made out.”

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Court order

The court directed that in the event of arrest, the police release the accused on bail on furnishing a personal bond of Rs 25,000 with one or more sureties in like amount. Also, the court directed the accused to neither tamper with evidence nor influence the witnesses in any way. "He will also surrender his mobile phone to the investigating police officer and shall also cooperate, if required, for carrying out a medical examination," the bench said.

Lawyer reacts

Advocate Dinesh Tiwari, who represented the accused in the high court, said, the order was a matter of great relief to his client. "It is not that easy to get an order of anticipatory bail in a matter of rape. But the way the high court, on our submissions, could see through the agenda behind the false and highly improbable allegations against the applicant, is really relieving. We will take out more proceedings to expose the entire conspiracy behind making false allegations. The  very attitude of the police in trying to chase down any accused,  without even applying common sense, needs to be addressed by all concerned.”

1994
The year the complainant left her home, according to the prosecution

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