Cr.M.P.(M) No. 1056 of 2008 23.10.2008 Present: Mr. M.S. Guleria, Advocate for the petitioner. Mr. Rajinder Kishore Sharma, Senior Addl. A.G. with Mr. Rajinder Dogra, Addl. A.G. and Mr. Vikas Rathore, Dy.A.G. for the respondent. This is an application under Section 439 of the Code of Criminal Procedure for releasing the petitioner on bail in F.I.R. No. 310 of 2008 registered on 16.9.2008 at Police Station, Balh, District Mandi, H.P. under Section 376 of the Indian Penal Code and Section 3 (11) of the Scheduled Caste & Scheduled Tribe (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989. The respondent-State has filed the status report. Heard and perused the record. The prosecution case in brief is that the petitioner was posted as J.B.T. Teacher in Government Primary School, Kummi Chowk, Tehsil Sadar, District Mandi, H.P. during the year 2004-2006. He had been visiting the shop of the complainant. He had developed acquaintance with the complainant. He invited the complainant to his house on the pretext that his son’s birth day was to be celebrated. The complainant reached the house of the petitioner. He took the advantage of her being alone and attempted to outrage her modesty. She tried to raise alarm but the petitioner threatened to kill her. He succeeded in committing the rape with the complainant. The complainant did not disclose this incident to her husband. He took the complainant in a three-wheeler to the hotel at Sauli Khad, Tehsil Sadar, District Mandi. He laced coffee with intoxicant. The complainant became unconscious and did not remember what happened thereafter. Thereafter, the petitioner asked the complainant to sit in the bus. On 30.5.2008 some people of the locality pelted stones on the house of the complainant. The complainant and her husband found the C.D. in the premises. When the C.D. was watched, it was found that it featured the complainant. The case of the prosecution in nut-shell is that the petitioner had committed rape with the complainant and had also exposed the complainant by preparing the C.D. without her knowledge, consent and permission. On these facts, the case was registered under Section 376 of the Indian Penal Code and Section 3 of the Scheduled Caste & Scheduled Tribe (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989 at Police Station, Balh, District Mandi, H.P. The learned counsel for the petitioner has submitted that the petitioner belongs to a respectable family and is working as a J.B.T. Teacher. He has denied the allegations made against him. He further submits that the investigation in the case is complete and nothing is to be recovered from him. He is ready to furnish requisite bail bonds in case he is released on bail. He had earlier filed bail application, which was dismissed by the learned Sessions Judge, Mandi on 4.10.2008. The bail application has been opposed by the learned Senior Additional Advocate General. The learned Senior Additional Advocate General has argued that the petitioner has committed a heinous crime. He then contended that the petitioner has taken advantage of her being alone and after lacing the coffee with intoxicant, he committed rape on the complainant. It appears from the record that the petitioner and the complainant were known to each other intimately. Their relationships lasted for two years from 2004 to 2006. According to the complainant, she was raped by the petitioner when he called her to his house. This incident was not narrated by her to the husband. If something like rape has been committed, in normal circumstances, the husband was required to be apprised and thereafter, first information report was required to be lodged. She voluntarily went with the petitioner to Sauli Khad, Tehsil Sadar, District Mandi. Thus, it is apparent that she was a willing party. It is only when the C.D. was exposed in the public that F.I.R. was lodged against the petitioner. She has not narrated to her husband even the incident which has happened at the hotel. The incident has taken place between 2004 to 2006 and the First Information Report has been lodged on 16.9.2008. In the facts and circumstances of the case, the petitioner has made out a case for the grant of bail under Section 439 of the Code of Criminal Procedure. Accordingly, the application is allowed. The petitioner is allowed to be released on bail in the case F.I.R. No. 310 of 2008 registered at Police Station, Balh, Tehsil Sadar, District Mandi under Section 376 of the Indian Penal Code and Section 3 of the Scheduled Caste & Scheduled Tribe (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989 on his furnishing personal bond in the sum of Rs. 25,000/- with one surety in the like amount to the satisfaction of the learned Sessions Judge/Additional Sessions Judge, Mandi. The petitioner shall not tamper with the prosecution evidence in any manner. The observations made in this order are for the disposal of this application and these shall not be treated as an expression/opinion on the merits of the case. Copy ‘Dasti’ on usual terms. (Rajiv Sharma), J. October 23, 2008. (cr)