The court was seized of the bail granted to the accused in a rape case. (File)
New Delhi:
Courts Cannot Ignore Survivors ‘Notice in Sexual Assault Cases While Deciding Offenders’ Requests for Bail, the Delhi High Court said, noting that survivors were not informed in the majority of cases.
Hearing a case related to the bail granted to the accused in a rape of a girl case, the court said that, in emergency situations such as the current foreclosure, bail pleas are heard by session judges who are not ordinary POCSO courts, it is therefore necessary to make them aware of these mandatory provisions.
The HC overturned the court order granting the accused provisional release in the rape of the girl without giving the girl a hearing or notice.
“It is considered appropriate to order that any failure to comply with the mandatory condition of giving notice and serving notice on the complainant / victim / informant could result in consecutive measures, in accordance with the law, “said the court.
He also ordered the respective district judges to conduct awareness programs via videoconference within a week and to inform all session chairs of the importance of compliance with this mandatory condition.
Judge Prathiba M Singh said that the petition challenging the accused’s provisional release without giving her notice had highlighted a “serious and perpetual problem” – no survivors’ hearing in the applications bail filed by rape and gang trial rape of children under the IPC and the Child Sexual Offense Protection Act (POCSO) .
In accordance with previous court instructions, the clerk general of the High Court collected data from the courts of first instance for the period from April 22 to May 23, which is the lock-in period. The data showed that out of 294 cases where the accused had requested bail in sexual offenses cases, notices had been sent to the complainant in only 79 cases.
“… in 215 cases constituting almost 70%, no opinion was issued. A reading of the report of the Registrar General confirms, in fact, the analysis which was recorded by the petitioner for 122 cases, at effect that the complainants / informants are not heard before the hearing of bail applications for the accused under the provisions of the POCSO Act, “he said, adding that the publication of a notice is of the mandate of the law.
The court added that there was also no doubt that most of the sessional courts did not issue a notice to the complainant until he heard or heard the bail applications from the accused, including the requests for provisional release.
In fact, even if compromise is the reason for the bail request, it is more important that the same is verified or confirmed by the complainant / survivor, according to the report.
The plea was filed by the mother, through counsel Tara Narula, challenging the interim release granted to the accused on May 5 on the grounds that the order had been issued routinely and was not only bad in law but also suffered from procedural flaws on the part of the court of sessions.
Counsel for the survivor argued that as of April 21, 2018, the law had changed the law under which the presence of the informer or any authorized person would be mandatory at the time of the hearing of the application on bail. the person charged with sexual offenses.
The period for which provisional bail was granted to the accused expired on June 5, the day the High Court released its verdict. After the accused filed a new bail application in the court of first instance, the district court declared that it would be decided in accordance with the law after hearing the complainant and the prosecution and the reasons given by man in advocacy.
The court declared that the failure to notify the complainants or the survivors was not simply a procedural error, but was clearly contrary to the unequivocal legislative mandate and the established law.
He stated that the lockout period posed several problems for the justice system as the courts prepare daily and that notification to the complainant is such a basic prerequisite that the requirement of the law cannot be circumvented, ignored or overlooked.
