The Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh High Court recently granted bail to a man accused of rape after the complainant admitted that she is the wife of the accused [Ali Mohd Th. Wife Salima Begum V/s UT of J&K]
Justice Rajnesh Oswal also noted that the complainant did not raise any objection to the Court quashing case and granting bail to the accused, one Ali Mohd.
Hence, the Court granted bail to Mohd who had spent nearly 1.5 years in jail.
“Normally this Court would not have granted the bail in view of serious allegations but taking into consideration that the complainant herself has stated that she is the wife of the petitioner and she has no objection to the petition for quashing the FIR and the application for grant of bail, this Court is of the considered view that the petitioner deserves to be enlarged on bail particularly when the petitioner has been in custody since September, 2023,” the Court said in its order of March 7.
Ali Mohd moved the Court for bail and quashing of the first information report (FIR) registered at Samba Police Station on September 14, 2023.
It was argued that the FIR was a retaliatory measure to his resistance to the application moved by the complainant for maintenance under Section 125 of Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) in November 2022.
Considering the complainant’s lack of opposition to the bail plea, the Court granted the accused bail. Meanwhile, the plea challenging the FIR was withdrawn with the liberty to raise the grounds for it before the trial court.
Advocate HC Jalmeria appeared for the petitioner.
Deputy Advocate General Vishal Bharti represented the State. (BarBench)
