Allahabad High Court Grants Bail To Advocate Sentenced To 4 Yrs Imprisonment For 'Stalking' Woman Judge

The Allahabad High Court recently granted bail to a practising advocate from Hamirpur district, who had been convicted earlier this year by a trial court and sentenced to four years in prison for 'stalking' a woman judge and making inappropriate comments about her. While hearing his revision plea against the judgment of conviction, a bench of Justice Ram Manohar Narayan Mishra granted bail to Mohd. Haroon, considering the nature of the offence, his imprisonment since July 2023, and the fact that his plea is not likely to be decided early due to the pendency of backlog cases. The accused, convicted under sections 354, 354A(1)(IV), 354D and 509 I.P.C had been booked for hindering the privacy of the informant (woman judge), passing sexual comments and staring at her now and then when she was walking out of her chamber. Seeking bail during the pendency of his revision plea, the accused moved the HC, wherein his counsel argued that the prosecution version is exaggerated and that there is no allegation against the revisionist for transmitting any undesirable audio SMS or WhatsApp message to the informant or trying to chat with her in a private manner. It was also submitted that the revisionist had apologised to the informant several times, but she had misconstrued it. It was also argued that he is a practising lawyer and has undergone imprisonment of one year, 11 months, and two years, two months, and fifteen days imprisonment with remission as of November 6, 2024; thus, he had undergone half of the maximum sentence awarded in the impugned judgement. On the other hand, AGA for the State opposed the prayer for bail and submitted that the allegation against the revisionist is of misbehaviour and is stalking a judicial officer. Still, he could not dispute that the revisionist had undergone half of the maximum sentence awarded in the impugned order. Advocates Ajay Pandey, Amit Goel, Azad Khan and Deepak Pandey appeared for the revisionist Case title - Mohd Haroon vs. State of U.P Citation : Click Here ToRead/Download Order

Allahabad High Court Grants Bail To Advocate Sentenced To 4 Yrs Imprisonment For 'Stalking' Woman Judge

Sparsh Upadhyay

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