7. cri apeal 459-17.doc
RMA
IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT BOMBAY
CRIMINAL APPELLATE JURISDICTION
CRIMINAL APPEAL NO. 459 OF 2017
Balasaheb Babanrao Nagawade .. Appellant
Versus
The State of Maharashtra .. Respondent
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Appearances
Mr. Aniket U. Nikam Advocate for the Appellant
Mr. H.J. Dedia APP for the State
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CORAM : SMT. V.K. TAHILRAMANI &
SANDEEP K. SHINDE, JJ.
DATE : JUNE 7, 2017.
ORAL JUDGMENT [PER SMT. V.K. TAHILRAMANI, J.] :
1. Heard both sides.
2. This appeal is directed against the order dated 2.5.2017 passed by the learned Additional Sessions Judge, Pune in the application for anticipatory bail preferred by the appellant. By the said order, the application of the appellant for anticipatory bail came to be rejected. The applicant has jfoanz vkacsjdj 1 of 5 ::: Uploaded on - 08/06/2017 ::: Downloaded on - 09/06/2017 00:49:53 :::
7. cri apeal 459-17.doc moved for anticipatory bail in C.R. No. 76/2017 of Lashkar Police Station, Pune. The said C.R. is under Sections 376 and 328 of IPC, under Sections 3, 4, 11 and 12 of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, 2012 and under Sections 3(1)(w), 3(2)(v) of the S.C. & S.T. Act.
3. It is the prosecution case that the date of birth of the victim girl is 14.4.1998. The appellant committed rape on the victim girl for the first time in August 2015 after administering intoxicating substance on her. The appellant took video clip of the act of rape and thereafter he used it to blackmail the victim girl to have sexual intercourse with her repeatedly. The victim girl has clearly stated this fact in her FIR dated 8.4.2017.
4. Learned counsel for the appellant submitted that in fact, the victim girl was in love with the appellant who is a married man and she was pursuing the appellant and she took initiative in sending messages to the appellant. He jfoanz vkacsjdj 2 of 5 ::: Uploaded on - 08/06/2017 ::: Downloaded on - 09/06/2017 00:49:53 :::
7. cri apeal 459-17.doc further submitted that the victim girl had made complaint on 15.7.2016 to the police in which she has not mentioned about any rape but she had mentioned only about the appellant harassing her by sending messages. As far as the second aspect is concerned, it is seen that it is the case of the victim girl that the appellant had in his possession a video clip which shows the appellant committing rape on her. It appears that on account of this, she may be frightened and under pressure, hence, she may not have revealed the fact of rape in her complaint dated 15.7.2016.
5. As far as the aspect that the victim girl was in love with the appellant and she was after him and she took initiative in sending messages to him is concerned, reliance was placed by the learned counsel for the appellant on some SMS which have been sent by the victim girl to the appellant which shows that she was in love with him. It is seen that the rape was committed for the first time in August 2015. At that time, the victim girl was below the age of consent and hence, jfoanz vkacsjdj 3 of 5 ::: Uploaded on - 08/06/2017 ::: Downloaded on - 09/06/2017 00:49:53 :::
7. cri apeal 459-17.doc there was no question of her giving any consent to the act even though she may have been in love with the appellant.
6. In view of the allegations made by the victim girl, prima facie, the involvement of the appellant in a case of rape is made out. In addition, the learned APP submitted that as far as the cellphone of the appellant is concerned in which the video clip relating to rape has been captured, the appellant is not cooperating with the investigating team by giving ID and password through which the contents of the video clip can be retrieved. In view of all these facts, we are not inclined to grant anticipatory bail to the appellant. The appeal is dismissed.
7. At this stage, learned counsel for the appellant states that he wishes to challenge this order before the Apex Court, hence, the interim protection be extended by a period of four weeks from today. We find the request to be reasonable, hence, we extend the interim protection by a period of four jfoanz vkacsjdj 4 of 5 ::: Uploaded on - 08/06/2017 ::: Downloaded on - 09/06/2017 00:49:53 :::
7. cri apeal 459-17.doc weeks from today.
[ SANDEEP K. SHINDE, J. ] [ SMT. V.K. TAHILRAMANI, J. ]
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