HC cites procedural lapse to order release of rape accused; allows cops to re-arrest him if needed

Mumbai, Oct 9 (PTI) The Bombay High Court has ordered the release of a man, accused of raping a hearing and speech-impaired woman, observing that proper procedure was not followed at the time of his arrest.

However, a bench of Justices Sarang Kotwal and Shyam Chandak has allowed the police to re-arrest him, calling the offence serious. The survivor should not suffer because of the lapse on the part of the police, it said.

In the order passed on Tuesday, the court also clarified that it was not granting bail to the man.

The court, after perusing the case papers, noted that the accused was detained in a police station for a whole day before he was formally shown as arrested in the case.

The timeline clearly shows that the accused was produced before the court beyond the stipulated period of 24 hours, violating the provisions of law, the HC said.

“Hence, it will have to be held that his (accused) detention was illegal and as a result, he will have to be released,” it said.

The bench, however, noted that since the offence was quite serious, it would not be proper if the survivor suffered because of the lapse on the part of the investigating agency.

“Therefore, to strike a balance, liberty needs to be given to the investigating agency to re-arrest the detenue if they deem fit,” the court said while ordering the man to be released from jail.

The man’s wife had moved the HC, claiming that his arrest was illegal as he was not produced before the appropriate court for remand within 24 hours.

As per the plea, a case was registered against the man in April this year by the suburban Sakinana police for allegedly raping a hearing and speech-impaired woman, who was working as housekeeping staff in a residential building. The accused was the supervisor there.

The survivor had said the accused accosted her and raped her when she had gone to the housing society’s parking area for cleaning. PTI SP NR