Dulu Mirdha v. The State of Assam and Anr

PageoNo.#o1/3 GAHC010165552024 ooooooo ooooooooooooooo ooooooooooooooooTHEoGAUHATIoHIGHoCOURTo (HIGHoCOURToOFoASSAM,oNAGALAND,oMIZORAMoANDoARUNACHALoPRADESH)o CaseoNo.o:oBailoAppln./2446/2024o DULUoMIRDHAo S/OoLATEoPUNYAoMIRDHA,oR/OoDIHINGMUKHoTETELIGURI,oP.S.-DEMOW,o P.O.-DIHINGMUKH,oDIST-oSIVASAGAR,oASSAM,oPIN-785671 VERSUSo THEoSTATEoOFoASSAMoANDoANRo REPRESENTEDoBYoTHEoPUBLICoPROSECUTOR,oASSAM 2:BABULoMALLAH oS/OoSHRIoKEDARoMALLAH oR/OoDIHINGMUKHoTETELIGURI oP.S.-DEMOW oP.O.-DIHINGMUKH oDIST-oSIVASAGAR oASSAM oPIN-78567o AdvocateoforotheoPetitionerooooo:oMR.oPoDoNAIR,oMRoSoRoAoNASER,MR.oHoROHMAN,MRoGoALAM AdvocateoforotheoRespondento:oPP,oASSAM,oAMICUSoCURIAEoo oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo BEFORE HONOURABLEoMRS.oJUSTICEoMALASRIoNANDI ORDERo

15.10.2024 o Heard ; Mr. ; H. ; Rohman, ; learned ; counsel ; appearing ; for ; the ; accused petitioner.;Also;heard;Mr.;K.;K.;Das,;learned;Addl.;P.P.,;Assam;appearing;for;the Page No.# 2/3 State respondent No.1 and Ms. P. Agarwal, learned Amicus Curiae appearing for respondent No.2.

¶2By filing this petition under Section 439 of the Cr. P. C., 2023 the accused-petitioner, namely, Dulu Mirdha, has prayed for grant of bail in connection with Demow P.S. Case No.09/2024 under Sections 366/376(1) of the IPC read with Section 6 of POCSO Act and corresponding Special (P) Case No. 15/2024.

¶3It is submitted by the learned counsel for the petitioner that as per medical report the victim was above 18 years of age at the time of the incident. Hence, the provision of Section 6 of POCSO Act is not attracted here in this case. It is further submitted that the victim in her statement recorded under Section 164 Cr.P.C. has stated that she has voluntarily eloped with the accused petitioner and had sexual relationship when she stayed along with the petitioner. Being a major girl, the victim is a consenting party to have sexual relationship with the petitioner. It is also submitted that the evidence of the victim was recorded by the trial court and the accused petitioner has been languishing in judicial custody for more than six months since his arrest on 07.04.2024. Considering the length of detention, prayer for bail may be considered.

¶4Mr. Das, learned Additional Public Prosecutor and Ms. Agarwal learned Amicus Curiae have vehemently opposed in granting bail to the petitioner by stating that the victim is a minor girl and the victim was around 17 years of age at the time of the alleged incident.

¶5I have heard the learned counsel for both the parties and I have also perused the evidence of the witnesses. It appears that three witnesses have been examined by the trial court including the victim. Page No.# 3/3

¶6In view of the above and considering the fact that the victim has already been examined, this Court is inclined to grant bail to the petitioner.

¶7Accordingly, the petitioner, named above, shall be released on bail, on furnishing bail bond of Rs.50,000/- with two suitable sureties of the like amount, to the satisfaction of learned Special Judge (POSCO), Sivasagar.

¶8The direction for bail is further subject to the following condition that the accused-petitioner:

(a) shall not leave the territorial jurisdiction of the learned trial court without prior written permission from him/her till disposal of the case.

¶9Special Judge (POSCO), Sivasagar, is at liberty to impose any other condition(s) as it deems fit and proper at the time of releasing the accused/petitioner on bail to procure his attendance during trial.

¶10The observation made above, shall confine for the purpose of disposal of this bail application only and shall not in any way affect the proceeding of the trial.

¶11In terms of the above, this bail application stands disposed of.

JUDGE Comparing Assistant