On Wednesday, the Delhi High Court granted bail to a married gym trainer accused of raping and blackmailing a woman advocate, holding that questions of personal morality cannot override legal scrutiny while deciding an individual’s liberty. The Court observed that material placed before it, including photographs and video clips, prima facie indicated a consensual relationship between the parties, making the case significant in the continuing judicial debate over consent, personal relationships, and criminal allegations arising out of failed intimate relationships.
The prosecution alleged that the complainant met the accused at a gym in Delhi, after which the two developed a friendship. According to the complaint, the accused allegedly administered an intoxicating substance through a drink, took her to a hotel in Ghaziabad, sexually assaulted her, and captured objectionable photographs without consent. It was further alleged that the accused later used those photographs to blackmail the complainant into repeated sexual relations and extorted ₹65,000 by threatening to circulate the images online.
The accused, however, denied the allegations and argued that the relationship was entirely consensual, claiming that the complaint was lodged only after the relationship deteriorated. He also relied upon photographs and video recordings allegedly showing the parties in a consensual romantic relationship.
Justice Girish Kathpalia observed that the complainant was an adult and a practising advocate, and noted that no objectionable photographs or videos were recovered from the accused’s phone during the investigation. The Court further remarked that the material shown by the accused prima facie supported his contention regarding consensual intimacy between the parties.
Rejecting the prosecution’s argument that the accused, being a married man with a child, did not deserve bail, the Court stated, “Morality has to be kept separate from the offence, that too while dealing with the matter of liberty of an individual.” The Bench also rejected submissions relating to the parties’ religious differences.
Consequently, the Court granted bail to the accused.
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