IN THE HIGH COURT OF PUNJAB & HARYANA AT CHANDIGARH

229 Date of decision: 20.02.2025 ANSH ....Petitioner Versus STATE OF PUNJAB ...Respondent CORAM: HON'BLE MS. JUSTICE KIRTI SINGH Present : Ms. Mallika Dhillon , Advocate for the petitioner.

Mr. R.S. Thind, DAG, Punjab.

KIRTI SINGH . J.(Oral)

CRM-28527-2024

1. For the reasons mentioned in the application, the same is allowed.

Annexure P-8 is taken on record subject to all just exceptions.

CRR-139-2024

2. The present revision petition has been filed for grant of regular bail to the petitioner in case FIR No.77 dated 05.09.2023, under Sections 376(D) IPC and under Section 6 of POCSO Act (Section 376 (DA) IPC added later on), registered at Police Station Women, District Amritsar City.

3. The translated version of the FIR is reproduced below:-

“Statement of Mark Masih son of Silash Masih resident of H.

No. 111, Street No.01, Mahindra Colony, Mohkampura Amritsar, aged about 19 years, M. No. 98882-17835. Stated that I am resident of above mentioned address and is running a Momoz vend at Bill Wala Chowk, Mohkampura. I, my father and my younger sister Aester are residing in a rented accommodation. My elder sister Joti Batra is married and the mother being mentally retarded is residing with maternal grandmother at Nepal. I and my sister Aester were sleeping on the roof. It was the time at 05 AM, when my younger sister Aester told me that the fourth house from our house, which belongs to Pinki, where, the husband of Pinki namely Anil Kumar alias Billi was partying with some of his friends and my sister Aester was not feeling asleep, due to which, she was standing on the roof. In the intervening night at 02 AM, one of the said boys called my sister Aester by gesturing her and my sister is not much attentive and being unknown, she went there. Upon reaching there, the above said boys did illicit acts with her. Thereafter, I disclosed the entire story to my elder sister Joti Batra over the phone and called her to the house. After her arrival to the house, she asked about the entire story from my younger sister Aester, upon which, my younger sister Aester told that when she was standing on the roof at night, then following the gestures made by a boy, she went to the house where the party was going on, by crossing over the roofs, where, the husband of Pinki namely Anil Kumar alias Billi and his four other friends were present. From there, the said boys caught my sister and took her to the bathroom constructed on the roof of adjoining house of Radha Sharma. Firstly, the friends of Anil Kumar alias Billi started doing illicit acts with my sister, and when my sister started raising noise, they tied the mouth of my sister with a cloth. Thereafter, they one by one started touching the private part of my sister and those four boys took turns to commit rape upon my sister and Anil Kumar alias Billi was seeing all this while standing on the spot and was laughing, who didn't rescue my sister from these four boys. My sister do not know the names of those four boys, but can recognize them on their coming before her, but Anil Kumar alias Billi is personally known to all of them. Therefore, take legal action against Anil Kumar alias Billi along with his four friends and deliver justice to my sister. Statement read over, heard, which is correct. Sd/-Mark Masih (In English).

4. Learned counsel for the petitioner inter alia submits that the petitioner has been falsely implicated in this case. The petitioner has not been named in the FIR and only on the basis of disclosure statement of the main accused he has been nominated as an accused. The victim has turned hostile qua the petitioner. Reliance has been placed upon the judgment passed by the Co-

ordinate Bench of this Court in CRR-2485-2018, decided on 27.09.2018.

5. Per contra, learned State counsel has vehemently opposed the submissions made by the learned counsel for the petitioner. He states that the petitioner was actively involved in the commission of the offence.