Chandigarh, June 28:
In a landmark decision, the High Court of Punjab and Haryana on Friday rejected
the bail plea of an accused on the ground that any crime against women and
children is a crime against society as a whole.
The Court ruling came in the backdrop of the accused pleading that he had reached a compromise with the victim’s father.
“A crime against women
and children, being heinous and gruesome, as it not only takes away from them
their dignity, but scars their body and soul for all time to come, is a crime
against society as a whole,” Justice Harnaresh Singh Gill of the High Court
asserted.
The petitioner was
seeking anticipatory bail in the case of kidnapping, rape and other offences
registered under Sections 363, 363-A, 366-A, 376 and 511 of the IPC and the
provisions of the POCSO Act.
The petitioner’s
counsel contended that the FIR was registered against some unknown person. The
petitioner was not named in the FIR but was falsely implicated due to
political motives. Moreover, a compromise has been finalised between the
petitioner and the complainant-father of the victim, vide a compromise deed
dated May 1. In such circumstances, the petitioner may be granted the
concession of anticipatory bail, the counsel added.
Justice Gill at the
end of the debate in the court asserted that the allegations against the accused
were of kidnapping the prosecutrix, stated to be 14-year-old, and also
committing rape.
It should be noted
that there can be no compromise in criminal cases like rape and kidnapping as
per the law of the land so such a compromise would be null and void.