Judgment

1. Petitioner has moved this application for grant of bail in anticipation of his arrest in FIR No.109/2021 for offences under Sections 376, 343, 504 and 506 IPC registered with Police Station, Domana, Jammu.

2. Briefly stated, the case of prosecution is that the prosecutrix, moved an application for registration of FIR in terms of Section 156(3) of Cr. P. C. before the Court of Special Excise Mobile Magistrate, Jammu, and vide order dated 15.04.2021 read with order dated 30.03.2021, passed by the learned Magistrate, directions for registration were issued to the police, in pursuance whereof the prosecutrix produced the said application before the police. On the basis of the orders of the learned Magistrate, the aforesaid FIR came to be registered by the police.

3. In her complaint, the prosecutrix claimed that she had come in contact with the accused in the year 2018 and after 2-3 days of her conversation with the accused, he promised to marry her. According to the complainant/prosecutrix, she fell into the trap of the accused and accompanied him to Katra City for paying a visit to Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Shrine on 03.09.2018. It has been alleged that while they spent a night in a hotel at Katra, the accused forced himself upon the prosecutrix and committed sexual intercourse with her. It is further alleged that the accused clicked some nude photographs of the prosecutrix and thereafter started blackmailing her. The prosecutrix further goes on to allege that on account of this blackmailing tactics of the accused, she again accompanied the accused on 20th of January, 2019, on which date she was again sexually exploited by him and thereafter on 21.04.2019, she again accompanied the petitioner to Srinagar. It is alleged that the accused kept on committing sexual intercourse with the prosecutrix for about three years by making false promise of marrying her.

4. After registration of the FIR, the Investigating Agency went ahead with the investigation of the case. As per the status report filed by the respondent State, on the basis of investigation conducted so far, the offences under Section 376, 343, 504 and 506 IPC stand established against the accused/petitioner.

5. According to the petitioner, the allegations made in the FIR are vexatious and baseless and that no offences are made out against him. It is contended that the very basis of the FIR in question, so far it relates to the allegation that the petitioner has committed sexual intercourse with the prosecutrix by extending false promise of marriage to her, is improbable because the prosecutrix, at the time of alleged occurrence, was a married lady and, as such, there was no question of extending a promise of marriage to her by the petitioner. It is averred that the prosecutrix is serving as a Constable in the Police Department and she, by misuse of her official position, in order to harass the petitioner, has managed to register a false and frivolous case against the petitioner, who is a married person. In this regard, the petitioner is stated to have approached the higher authority of the Police Department prior to the registration of the FIR.

6. Learned AAG, appearing for respondent No.1 and 2,has vehemently opposed the contentions of the petitioner and has contended that the petitioner has allured the prosecutrix to have sexual relationship with him on the basis of a false promise of marriage. He has further contended that the material collected by the Investigating Agency till date has established the complicity of the petitioner and, as such, he does not deserve to be released on bail, that too in anticipation of his arrest. It is further contended that keeping in view the gravity of the offences and the public interest involved, the bail application deserves to be dismissed.

7. Respondent No.3, the prosecutrix, has also contested the application by filing a reply thereto. In her reply, respondent No.3 has reiterated the allegations made by her in the FIR. She