BHOPAL: Madhya Pradesh Court's Indore Bench, in a one-of-its kind judgment, granted bail to a man accused of outraging a woman's modesty on the confition that he visits the complainant and get a rakhi tied by her on Raksha Bandhan.
"The applicant (incarcerated accused) along with his wife shall visit the house of the complainant with Rakhi thread/band on August 3, 2020 at 11 am with a box of sweets and request the complainant to tie the Rakhi band to him with the promise to protect her to the best of his ability for all times to come,” the MP High Court Indore’s single judge bench of Justice Rohit Arya said in its order on July 30.
“He (the bail applicant) shall also tender Rs 11,000 to the complainant in a customary ritual usually offered by brothers to sisters on such occasions and shall also take her blessings. The applicant shall also tender Rs 5,000 to the complainant’s son for purchase of clothes and sweets,” the HC judge mentioned in the order.
The order further mentioned that the applicant shall obtain photographs and receipts of payment made to the complainant and her son, and the same shall be filed through the counsel for being placed on record in the case before the HC’s Registry.
The aforesaid deposit of amount shall not influence the pending trial, but is only for enlargement of the applicant on bail, the judge made it clear in the order.
The HC, among other bail conditions, also asked the applicant to furnish a written undertaking with his complete residential details that he shall abide by the terms and conditions of various circulars and orders issued by the central government and the state government as well as the local administration from time to time in the matter of maintaining social distancing, physical distancing, hygiene, etc to avoid proliferation of the novel Coronavirus (COVID-19).
The seven conditions for granting bail were in addition to the prime condition that he be released on bail, on furnishing Rs 50,000 personal bond to the satisfaction of the Court.
The accused was arrested in June 2020 and was since then is in jail in connection with a case registered against him at Bhatpachalana police station of Ujjain district u/s 452, 354(A), 354, 323 and 506 of IPC.
He was accused of entering the house of a neighbour and catching hold of the woman's hand, attempting to outrage her modesty.
In the recent past, the MP High Court’s Gwalior Bench too has made headlines for granting bail to those accused in criminal cases on the basis of unique conditions.
In July, the MP High Court’s Gwalior Bench had granted bail to attempt to murder accused duo on the condition that they install non-made in China LED TV screen at the Gwalior District Hospital.
Prior to that, the same bench of the MP High Court in Gwalior had passed a series of orders granting bail to applicants in various criminal cases, by directing the bail applicants to register themselves with their concerned district magistrates as ‘COVID-19 Warrior’ so that they are assigned suitable work taking all prescribed precautions.