'Bail Is Rule': Gujarat High Court Grants Bail To Woman Accused Of Extorting Man With Explicit Video Clip, Threatening Rape FIR
The Gujarat High Court granted bail to a woman booked for threatening and extorting money and immovable property from the complainant by blackmailing him of publishing a purported video of him allegedly engaged in a sexual act, as well as threatening him of lodging a rape case. [2026 LiveLaw (Guj) 219]
Justice Hasmukh D Suthar in his order noted that the allegation was that the accused persons including the applicant blackmailed the complainant of lodging a rape case after shooting a "nude video clip" of his with an unknown woman and thereafter extorted cash as well as movable and immovable properties from him.
It was also alleged that the accused persons were engaged in business of embroidery work with the complainant and owed him Rs.2.28 Crore; thus they hatched this plan to avoid payment of dues.
"It is further alleged that complainant has transferred the property in the name of other co-accused and applicant has received Rs.5.50 lakh in his bank account which is still lying in the said account and as per the case of prosecution, said account has already been freezed. It is also alleged that present applicant is main accused and used to administer threats to the complainant...
Obviously, the conclusion of trial will take time and keeping the accused behind the bars is nothing but amounts to pre-trial conviction and therefore, considering the celebrated principle of bail jurisprudence is that “bail is a rule and jail is exception” as well as the concept of personal liberty guaranteed under Article 21 of the Constitution of India, present application deserves consideration," the court noted.
The court noted that the investigation was over and charge-sheet is filed. Further none of the offence alleged is punishable with life sentence or death penalty, the applicant is a woman and has been behind bars since 07/04/2026.
Further the court noted that there was nothing to be recovered or discovered from the applicant.
The court also said that although the applicant is having past antecedents but she is presumed to be innocent till proven guilty; further the co-accused having similarly situated role are enlarged on regular bail and therefore, on the ground of parity also the application deserves consideration.
The court was hearing a woman's plea for regular bail booked for offences punishable under Sections 328(Causing hurt by means of poison or an intoxicating/unwholesome drug with intent to commit an offence), 384(Punishment for extortion), 386(Extortion by putting a person in fear of death or grievous hurt), 388(Extortion by threat of accusation of an offence), 120(B)(criminal conspiracy), 34(common intention), 506(2)(Punishment for criminal intimidation), 504(Intentional insult with intent to provoke a breach of the public peace) and 114(abettor who is present when the crime is committed) IPC.
The court thus granted bail to the woman subject to certain conditions.
Case title: AASHABEN MANSUKHBHAI HIRPARA (PATEL) v/s STATE OF GUJARAT
R/CRIMINAL MISC.APPLICATION (FOR SUCCESSIVE REGULAR BAIL - AFTER CHARGESHEET) NO. 17432 of 2026
Citation:2026 LiveLaw (Guj) 219
Appearance: MR ANKIT Y BACHANI(5424) for the Applicant(s) No. 1
MR HARDIK MEHTA, APP for the Respondent(s) No. 1
Mr. Hemant B. Raval, advocate for the original complainant