'Complaint Filed Two Years After The Incident'; Bombay HC Grants Anticipatory Bail To Army Major Accused Of Rape [Read Order]

The Bombay High Court on Friday granted bail to Major Aunshuman Jha who is accused of rape by a 28-year-old IT Engineer in a telecom company. They met on a matrimonial site where the applicant introduced himself as a Major in the Army currently posted in Manipur.

Justice Bharati Dangre noted that the fact that the complaint has been filed more than two years after the alleged incident of rape itself creates many questions. Moreover, Justice Dangre opined that at this stage, the custodial interrogation of the applicant is not necessary and with an assurance that he will cooperate with the investigation which in progress, the following ad-interim relief would serve the purpose.

The applicant has been booked for offences punishable under Sections 376, 377, 420 of the Indian Penal Code. According to the complainant, after befriending her on a matrimonial site, the applicant got in touch with the complainant through Whatsapp/Video Call and telephone. Thereafter, the complainant alleged that in the month of April 2018, the applicant visited Mumbai specifically to meet the complainant and he stayed in a hotel. During his stay, the complainant visited him and the duo decided to get married in December.

The allegation is that she was taken into confidence by the applicant and it is during this visit the applicant forcibly established physical relationship with the complainant and assured that since they are going to get married, there is nothing wrong in maintaining the physical relationship. She also referred to some unnatural sex being committed resulting in registration of an offence under Section 377 of the IPC. 3

Furthermore, since the complainant missed her period somewhere in June 2018, she visited a Doctor and consumed one tablet by which she was able to get rid of the pregnancy. There was unwillingness and reluctance on the part of the applicant to tie the nuptial knot, the complaint states. Even the families of the applicant and the complainant got involved and it is then alleged that the hesitancy on the part of the applicant and his family to perform the marriage, prompted the complainant to approach the police station and lodge a complaint on July 20, 2020.

The delay in filing the FIR was sought to be explained by submitting that the complainant was under the impression that the applicant is going to marry her and therefore, she kept mum.

APP Prajakta Shinde argued that the allegations made by the complainant who had intervened in the proceedings before the Sessions Court, the applicant had indulged in cheating with other woman folk and he had used multiple identities and put to use distinct mobile numbers. According to the learned APP, she has been instructed by the Investigating Officer, on the basis of the complaint by the complainant that he was using 14 mobile numbers and the better particulars are yet to be investigated into. As far as the mobile phone used by the applicant through which he was in touch with the complainant has been seized by the Investigating Officer.

APP Shinde did not dispute the fact that the applicant had cooperated with the Investigating Officer when he was directed by the Sessions Court to report. The applicant is presently posted in Kamptee Cantonment, Nagpur and he has been serving in the Indian Army since June 2012, APP Shinde said.

Finally, Justice Dangre said-

"The fact that he is working in the Army, a disciplined force, is a sufficient guarantee of he being a law abider and there is no hesitation in my mind that he will co-operate with the Investigating Agency. As far as the allegations contained in the complaint are concerned, the complaint read with the conversation on the Whatsapp chat which has been placed on record do reveal that at a point of time, the applicant and complainant were desirous of getting married and both of them invested in the relationship, however, for the reasons very personal to them, they drifted apart.

The complainant and the applicant both being major are entitled to take decisions in their life. The fact that the complaint has been filed more than a period of two years after the alleged incident of rape itself creates many questions. In any case, the veracity of the complaint will have to be thoroughly investigated and whether there was an ingredient of cheating will also have to be discerned during the course of investigation."

Applicant's counsel Swastik Singh submitted that his client is expected to resume work this weekend and therefore, he (applicant) would obtain necessary permission from his superior and then co-operate with the investigation by coming back to Mumbai.

Justice Dangre -

"Since in my considered view, at this stage, the custodial interrogation of the applicant is not necessary and with an assurance that he will co-operate with the investigation which is in progress, the following ad-interim relief would serve the purpose."

Thus, anticipatory bail was granted on a personal bond of Rs.25,000 and directed to be present in Mumbai between August 24 to August 28.

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