"...Victim could've gauged accused person's intention", Delhi HC allows bail in rape case by Congress worker [Read Judgment]

NEW DELHI: Allowing anticipatory bail to accused Mehran Anjum Mir in a rape case, the Delhi High Court has reasoned that the victim could have gauged the intention of the petitioner as she is a grown up lady and despite that she accompanied the petitioner twice to hotel room.

Mir was facing allegations by his former-lover under Sections 376 (punishment for rape), 328 (causing hurt by means of poison, etc. with intent to commit an offence) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).

A single-judge bench of Justice Rajnish Bhatnagar relied on the facts as narrated by the lady and stated that there was nothing on record to substantiate the allegations of the victim under Section 328 IPC.

The Court further stated that as per the victims own case, Mir had tried to make relations with the victim in the house of his elder brother, despite which she had accompanied him twice to a hotel room of her own accord.

Further questioning the admissibility of call recordings referred to by the lady wherein the accused had admitted to having established a sexual relationship with her, the Court accepted the accused persons argument. 

The accused had placed reliance on the Delhi High Courts verdict in the case of Sanjay Pandey Versus Directorate of Enforcement 2022 LAWPACK (Del) 90331 : 2023(1) AD (Delhi) 53 wherein it was held that recording calls without consent is a breach of privacy and right to privacy has been enshrined under Article 21 of the Constitution which demands that the phone calls not be recorded except with the consent of the individuals concerned. Therefore, the accused argued that no reliance can be placed on the call records in the present case. 

Accepting this argument, the Court held that the evidentiary value to be given to these call recordings is a matter of trial. 

Thus the Court decided that, ...keeping in view the facts and circumstances of this case and also the fact that nothing is to be recovered from the petitioner, the bail application is allowed and it is ordered that in the event of arrest, the petitioner be released on bail on his furnishing a personal bond in the sum of Rs. 50,000/- with one surety of the like amount subject to the satisfaction of the IO/SHO.

Importantly, the Court noted that there was no denial from the accused persons side that the accused and the victim had sexual relationship, which according to the accused was consensual and only out of vengeance, the FIR had been registered as he had ceased communication with the victim.

Facts of the case

The brief facts of the case are that a zero FIR No 004/2023 dated October 7 was lodged under Section 376 IPC by the Maghwadi PS, Mumbai. 

The same was received in Nabi Karim PS for further action. The victim alleged in her statement that she is a worker of Congress Party from the year 2018 and had met Mir about 5-6 years ago through social media platform Facebook, and they became good friends.

Thereafter, according to the lady, she visited Delhi, met the accused a couple of times on his invitation after which he proposed marriage to her on August 5, 2023. She states that she accepted the proposal as she was in love with him.

She admits to having stayed in Noida at the accused persons elder brothers house on her second visit, wherein he allegedly tried to establish physical relations with her, but failed to do so.

However, after this on September 23, 2023, she went to meet him at a hotel in Delhi, where she was allegedly given medicine and juice. She claimed that she was left unconscious after the same and that the accused had had sexual intercourse with her without her consent in that state.

Thereafter she alleged that while he again promised to marry her, but refused to do so later, also going on to block her on social media.

Cause Title: Mehran Anjum Mir vs State Govt. of NCT of Delhi

[Read Judgment]