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IN THE HIGH COURT OF HIMACHAL PRADESH AT SHIML.A

Cr. MP (M) No.131 of 2026

Date of Decision:03.03.2026

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Ankush Kumar ...Petitioner

Versus

State of Himachal Pradesh & Anr. …Respondents

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Coram: o

The Hon’ble Mr. Justice Sandeep Sharma, Judge.

Whether approved for reporting ?

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For the petitioner : rMr. K.B. Khajuria, Advocate.

For the respondent : u Mr. Rajan Kahol & Mr. Vishal

Panwar, Additional Advocates

o General with Mr. Ravi Chauhan &

Mr. Anish Banshtu, Deputy

Advocates General.

IO/ASI Sunnder Lal, PS Tissa,

District Chamba, Himachal

Pradesh, present in person.

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gSandeep Sharma, J. (Oral)

Bail petitioner namely Ankush Kumar, who is behind

bars since 17.12.2025, has approached this Court in the instant

proceedings filed under Section 483 of Bharatiya Nagrik Suraksha

Sanhita (hereinafter ‘BNSS’) for grant of regular bail in case FIR

No.113 of 2025, dated 15.12.2025, under Sections 69 and 115 of

Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (hereinafter ‘BNS’), registered at Police

Station Tissa, District Chamba, H.P.

1 Whether reporters of the local papers may be allowed to see the judgment?

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2. Respondent-State has filed status report and ASI

Sunnder Lal has come present with record. Record perused and

returned.

3. Close scrutiny of record/status report reveals that on

15.12.2025, victim-prosecutrix (name wfithheld to protect her

identity) lodged a complaint at Police Station detailed herein

above, alleging therein that sintce March, 2024, she was in relation

with the bail-petitioner. She alleged that after March, 2024, she

had been frequently meeting the bail-petitioner and also developed

physical relations with him at Baddi, where she was working. She

alleged that bail-petitioner neither kept his promise to marry her

nor solemnized the marriage. In nutshell, victim-prosecutrix alleged

that she has been repeatedly sexually assaulted by the bail-

petitioner on the pretext of marriage, but now he has refused to

H marry her. In the afore background, FIR, as detailed hereinabove,

came to be lodged against the bail-petitioner and he is behind bars

since 17.12.2025. Since challan stands filed in the competent

Court of law and nothing remains to be recovered from the bail-

petitioner, he has approached this Court in the instant proceedings

for grant of regular bail.

4. While fairly acknowledging factum with regard to filing

of challan in the competent Court of law, Mr. Rajan Kahol, learned

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Additional Advocate General, states that though nothing remai.ns to

be recovered from the bail-petitioner, but keeping in view the

gravity of offence alleged to have been committed by him, he does

not deserve any leniency, rather needs to be dealt with severely.

Mr. Kahol, states that careful perusal of fstatements given by the

victim-prosecutrix before the Police as well as Judicial Magistrate

suggests that bail-petitioner,t taking undue advantage of the

situation, has repeatedly sexually assaulted the victim-prosecutrix

on the pretext of marriage, but now he has refused to marry her, as

such, he has been rightly booked under Sections 69 and 115 of

BNS. He states that since statement of the victim-prosecutrix is yet

to be recorded in the competent Court of law, it may not be in the

interest of justice to enlarge him on bail, in which event he may not

only flee from justice, but may cause harm to the victim-

H prosecutrix.

5. Having heard learned counsel for the parties and

perused the material available on record, this Court finds that

victim-prosecutrix, aged 24 years, has been in contact with the

bail-petitioner since March, 2024. As per own statements of the

victi