Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, Apr 24: High Court of Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh has dismissed two bail applications filed by accused Shahid Ahmed and Muzamil Aziz in a gang rape case registered at Police Station Gool, Ramban, observing that in heinous offences, the liberty of the accused must yield to the collective conscience of society.
Justice Rajnesh Oswal, while deciding bail applications through a common order, noted that both applications arose from FIR No. 76/2024 involving offences under Sections 376-D, 34 and 506 IPC, pending before the Fast Track Court, Ramban.
The High Court observed that the allegations against the accused were grave and heinous, involving repeated sexual assault on the prosecutrix, which allegedly resulted in the birth of a female child. The DNA report, as recorded in the order, confirmed Muzamil Aziz as the biological father of the child, while Shahid Ahmed was also implicated through the prosecutrix’s statement before the Magistrate.
Rejecting the defence plea that contradictions in the prosecutrix’s statement entitled the accused to bail, the High Court held that evidence cannot be appreciated in detail at the bail stage and such exercise is to be undertaken by the trial court during final adjudication.
The High Court further noted that the child born from the alleged crime had been surrendered before the Child Welfare Committee and was staying at Special Adoption Agency, Maitra Ramban. The court remarked that the offence had not only violated the dignity of the prosecutrix but had also left an innocent child vulnerable and dependent on State or charitable care.
Relying on Supreme Court judgments, the High Court reiterated that in serious offences like rape, courts must be slow in entertaining bail once trial has commenced. It also noted that several prosecution witnesses had already been examined and there was no violation of the accused’s right to speedy trial.
Finding no merit in the applications, the High Court dismissed both bail pleas, clarifying that its observations were confined only to deciding the bail applications and would not influence the trial.
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