IN THE HIGH COURT OF PUNJAB & HARYANA AT CHANDIGARH CRA-S-591-2026 (O&M)

Date of Decision: 09.03.2026 Satvir and another …..Appellants.

Versus State of Haryana and another .....Respondents CORAM: HON’BLE MS. JUSTICE NEERJA K. KALSON Present:- Mr.Salil Dev Singh Bali, Sr. Advocate with Mr. Parveen Jain, Advocate for the appellants.

Ms. Vasundhara Dalal Anand, Sr. DAG, Haryana.

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NEERJA K. KALSON, J .

1. The present appeal has been preferred by the appellants challenging the order dated 03.02.2026 passed by the learned Addl. Sessions Judge, Fast Track Special Court under POCSO Act, Bhiwani whereby the application filed by the appellants seeking the concession of anticipatory bail in FIR No. 194 dated 12.12.2025 under Sections 62, 75, 96, 137(2), 140(3), 239, 351(2), 353(2), 3(5) of BNS, Sections 8, 12, 21 of POCSO Act, and Section 3(2)(va) of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, registered at Police Station Behal, District Bhiwani, was dismissed. During the pendency of the proceedings, the complainant was duly informed by the Investigating Officer about the pendency of the present appeal.

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

“I Sanjay Caste Chamar, R/o Village Hariyawas, Tehsil Loharu. My daughter XXX whose date of birth is 05.09.2009 told me that 15-20 days prior to today when I was standing at the bus stand of Village Gopalwas for going to Behal then one Innova Car bearing No. HR70G3957 stopped. The driver of the car told his name to be Ravi Azad Jaat and told me that he would drop me to Behal and after misleading me made me sit in the car. He started teasing/touching me and started doing bad things. He started forcing himself on me. When I protested then he said that I am a big leader and if you tell it to someone then you along with your family would be killed. When I protested more vigorously then he made me got down at bus stand Behal. Because of fear and public shame I did not tell this to my family. Thereafter on 08^th of December 2009 when I was in the night when I was at the animal shed of the house then one Innova car bearing No.HR70G3957 in which two-three unknown boys were sitting came and said to me that Ravi Azad has called you and they started putting me forcibly in the car. On this I protested and made noise then after leaving me they ran away. When my daughter told me this incident to me then I along with my daughter have come to the police station for giving complaint.”

3. Learned counsel appearing for the appellants submits that the impugned order dated 03.02.2026 has been passed without proper appreciation of the factual matrix of the case and suffers from non- application of mind. It is argued that the appellants are respectable public representative of advanced age having clean antecedents and have been falsely implicated in the present case. It is further contended that the appellants were neither named in the FIR nor attributed any role in the occurrence forming the subject matter of the FIR. According to the appellants, they have been subsequently nominated during the course of investigation merely on the basis of a pen drive allegedly containing footage of a Mahapanchayat wherein the identity of the victim is alleged to have been disclosed. Learned counsel further submits that even if the allegations are accepted at their face value, the same may at best attract the provisions of Section 23 of the POCSO Act or Section 72 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, which are bailable and non-cognizable offences and have no nexus with the principal allegations forming the basis of the FIR. It is also argued that there are no allegations of caste-based insult or intimidation so as to attract the provisions of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act. It is further submitted that the main accused and co-accused have already been arrested and one of the co-accused namely Vikas has b