IMPORTANT POINT
The court established that serious allegations do not automatically preclude bail if there is no evidence of risk to the trial process.

JUDGMENT :

Mr. Sumeet Goel, J.

Present petition has been filed under Section 439 Cr.P.C. for grant of regular bail to the petitioner in case bearing FIR No. (Ed. Omitted), registered for the offences punishable under Sections 376(2) (n)/406/506 of IPC, 1860 at Police Station Palam Vihar, Gurugram District, Haryana.

2. The case set up in the FIR in question (as set out by the petitioner in the present petition) is as follows:-

“To Mr. SHO Sahab Police Station Female NIT Faridabad It is requested that I am (Ed. Omitted) I came to know about Ankit Arora (Ed. Omitted) on Instagram and we both then started talking on the phone. Once Ankit’s phone was damaged, he asked me to get him a phone and I ordered a phone at the address given by him and it was an iPhone. When I was on my duty on 23 November 2021, I got a call from Ankit And said that I have come to Gurgaon and come to see me then I went to meet Ankit after my duty was over, Ankit took me to Trinity Corporate Suites Hotel, Sector-21 Gurgaon there he talked to me for a while, then Ankit forcibly made a relationship with me and when I told Ankit that you have done wrong with me, cheated me, then I got action taken against you, then Ankit said that I love you very much and will marry. After that Ankit kept giving me the promise of marriage and took me to Hotel Comfort Inn Jaipur and made physical relation with me there also. That Ankit took around Rs 9 lakh from me whose transactions are with me. Now Ankit refused to marry me and also refused to give my money and now Ankit is threatening to kill me and saying that neither I will marry nor will I give you money. Ankit forced me to have a physical relationship on the pretext of marriage the strictest legal action should be taken against Ankit and I should be given money from Ankit SD- (Ed. Omitted)”

3. Learned counsel for the petitioner has argued that the petitioner is in custody since 26.04.2024. Learned counsel for the petitioner has submitted that there was consensual friendship with the victim which later on turned sour & hence the petitioner has been falsely implicated into the FIR in question. Learned counsel for the petitioner has relied upon whatsapp chat between the petitioner and the victim (copy whereof has been appended as Annexure P-9 with the present petition) to substantiate his argument that there was consensual friendship between the petitioner and the victim. Thus, regular bail is prayed for.

4. Learned State counsel has opposed the present petition arguing that the allegations raised are serious in nature and thus the petitioner does not deserve the concession of the regular bail.

5. Learned counsel for the complainant has vehemently opposed the grant of regular bail on the ground that the allegations made against the petitioner are serious in nature & hence he ought not to be granted the concession of regular bail.

6. I have heard counsel for the parties and have gone through the available records of the case.

7. The petitioner was arrested on 26.04.2024 wherein after investigation was carried out & challan was presented on 09.05.2024. Total 18 prosecution witnesses have been cited and culmination of the trial, but of course, will take its own time. The rival contention of the learned counsel for the parties; as to whether there was consensual friendship between the petitioner and the victim which turned sour later on and hence the FIR in question has been registered & the veracity/weightage required to be attached to the whatsapp chat (copy whereof has been appended as Annexure P-9 with the instant petition); shall be gone into during the course of trial. This Court does not deem it appropriate to delve deep into these rival contentions, at this stage, lest it may prejudice the trial. Nothing tangible has been brought forward to indicate the likelihood of the petitioner absconding from the process of justice or interfering with the prosecution evidence. As per the custody certificate dated 24.08.2024 filed by the learn