JUDGMENT :

(Ravindra Maithani, J.) :

Applicants Vivek and Anurag @ Vasu are in judicial custody in Case Crime No.450 of 2023, under Sections 363, 376-D, 328 and 506 IPC and Section 5(g)/6 of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, 2012, Police Station Ramnagar, District Nainital. They have sought their release on bail.

2. Heard learned counsel for the parties and perused the record.

3. According to the FIR, on 08.10.2023, at 6:30 PM, the applicants took the victim from her house by concealing their identity and raped her collectively. The victim was located by police. Thereafter, the victim revealed the incident to her father.

4. Learned counsel for the applicants would submit that the entire case is false; the statement of the victim is not reliable; according to the FIR, the victim was taken from her house, whereas, in her statement under Section 164 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 (“the Code”), tells that after a quarrel in the house, she was proceeding towards Barrage, when she was forcibly taken by the applicants. He would also submit that the victim has already been examined at the trial, and her statement reveals that she was known to the applicants. In Pa