Supreme Court: In a petition for Special Leave to Criminal Appeal against the judgment and order dated 1-11-2022 passed by Patna High Court rejecting Petitioner’s bail plea against apprehension of arrest in a matter involving offence punishable under Section 366-A/376 of the Penal Code, 1860 (‘IPC’) and Section 4 of Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, 2012 (‘POCSO Act’), the Division Bench of A.S. Bopanna and Dipankar Datta, JJ. extended the protection granted to the petitioner previously, requiring him to cooperate during further investigation.
The Court in the instant matter said that on 16-12-2022 while directing notice to the respondent, the Court had considered all aspects related to the instant matter and granted interim protection to the petitioner against arrest. The Court further observed that the investigation was incomplete and chargesheet was not filed at that stage, and that there was no complaint against the petitioner regarding non-cooperation or participation during the investigation.
The Court did not find any reason to alter the previous order granting interim protection against arrest of the petitioner and ordered that the same shall be available till the completion of process on a condition that the petitioner diligently participates in further investigation and process.
[Prawin Kumar v. State of Bihar, 2023 SCC OnLine SC 471, decided on 19-4-2023]
Advocates who appeared in this case :
For Petitioners: Advocate on Record Namit Saxena, Advocate Awnish Maithani, Advocate v Shivam Raghuwanshi, Advocate Shiksha Ashra
For Respondents: Advocate Saket Singh, Advocate Sangeeta Singh, Advocate on Record Niranjana Singh