The Rajasthan High Court’s order granting bail to a man accused of raping his niece was overturned by the Supreme Court on Tuesday, with the High Court failing to consider the accused’s influence over the victim as an older family member. According to a bench consisting of Chief Justice NV Ramana and Justice Krishna Murari, “The judicial system’s lifeblood is reasoning.
One of our system’s fundamental tenets is that every order must be justified. The vice of arbitrariness is present in an unreasoned order.” The bench’s decision was based on a petition filed by an alleged rape victim who requested that her uncle’s bail be revoked because he is a habitual offender who has been charged in nearly 20 cases.
While cancelling the accused’s bail, the apex court noted that the High Court order made no mention of the accused’s status as a habitual offender facing nearly 20 other criminal cases.
“In this case, the defendant is accused of committing the heinous crime of rape against his nineteen-year-old niece. The fact that the accused is a repeat offender with nearly twenty cases against him is not mentioned in the contested order “According to the Supreme Court’s decision.
The High Court failed to consider the accused’s influence over the victim as an elder family member, it said, adding that the sentence, which was only three months long, was not severe enough to compel the court to grant bail in a case of this nature.
The Supreme Court stated that when dealing with bail pleas, courts should consider factors such as “the accused’s position and status in relation to the victim and witnesses; the likelihood of the accused fleeing from justice; of repeating the offence; of jeopardising his own life in the face of a grim prospect of possible conviction in the case; of witness tampering…”
According to the prosecution, the accused raped his niece at her home in May 2021 and was apprehended after the FIR was filed. After taking into account the facts and submissions of the parties in the case, the High Court granted him bail on September 20, 2021. It overturned the high court’s bail order, calling the reasoning “the lifeblood of the judicial system.”
“In this case, respondent no. 2 accused is accused of committing the heinous crime of rape against his nineteen-year-old niece. “The impugned order makes no mention of the fact that respondent no. 2 accused is a habitual offender with nearly twenty cases against him,” it said.