Bombay High Court
Geethkumar Somnathan Pillai vs The State Of Maharashtra on 19 July, 2021
Equivalent citations: AIRONLINE 2021 BOM 2342
Author: Prakash D. Naik
Bench: Prakash D. Naik
4-ba-2891-2019.doc
IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT BOMBAY
CRIMINAL APPELLATE JURISDICTION
BAIL APPLICATION NO. 2891 OF 2019
Geethkumar Somnathan Pillai ... Applicant
Versus
The State of Maharashtra & Anr. ... Respondents
.....
Mr. Amit Singh i/b. Mr. Charan Penthaliya, Advocate for the
Applicant.
Mr. S. R. Agarkar, APP for the Respondent - State.
Ms. Tejaswi Rane, Advocate for complainant/Respondent No.2.
.....
CORAM : PRAKASH D. NAIK, J.
DATE : 19th JULY, 2021
PER COURT:
1. The applicant was arrested on 13th November, 2017, in
connection with C.R. No. 361 of 2017 registered with Vitthalwadi
Police Station, Ulhas Nagar, Dist. Thane for offences under Sections
376, 377, 323, 506 r/w Section 34 of Indian Penal Code (for short
"IPC") and Sections 4, 6, 8 & 17 of Protection of Children from
Sexual Offences Act, 2012 (for short 'POCSO Act').
2. The case of the prosecution is that the complaint was
lodged by the mother of victim on 13 th November, 2017. According
to complainant, the complainant and her family used to visit
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Sharon Fellowship Church for prayers. The Priest in the said church
had gone to America in the year 2013 and hence the church was
closed. Thereafter, the complainant got acquainted with the
applicant, who was Priest (Pastor). Both the families became close
to each other and they ware on visiting terms. The applicant then
persuaded the complainant to appoint him as Priest in Sharon
Fellowship Church and on her recommendation, the applicant was
appointed as Priest (Pastor) in the said church. In September, 2017,
the complainant received a call from Smt. Varsha Nevgi, who was
also visiting the Sharon Fellowship Church for offering prayers and
she told the complainant that the applicant had outraged her
modesty and she should verify whether her daughter is subjected to
such treatment. Pursuant to that the complainant took the victim
in confidence and at that time the daughter disclosed her that since
2015, the applicant used to drop her in school and accompany her
while returning home after school time is over. She further stated
that the applicant had conversation with her about physical
relationship and tried to come close to her. In February - 2015 she
was subjected to sexual assault. She threatened not to disclose the
incident to any person. Thereafter, in July-2016, the victim got
acquainted with another lady namely Khushbu Raja. She was
visiting the church for offering prayer. She was also acquainted
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with the applicant. In - 2017, mother of victim was called by
Khushbu and told her that her uncle had met with an accident.
Request was made to send the victim to accompany her. The victim
thereafter, joined them and visited the house of Khushbu. She was
again sexually assaulted. There was physical relationship between
them on several occasions. To avoid pregnancy, the co-accused had
given her contraceptive. On 24th April, 2017, the victim, applicant
and co-accused Khushbu had planned to go for movie. Instead of
that, victim was taken to the house of the applicant and both had
subjected her to sexual assault. She was also subjected to unnatural
sex. She was threatened not to disclose the incident to any person.
Somewhere in August - 2017, the wife of the applicant saw the
messages forwarded by applicant to the victim and she picked up
quarrel with the victim. On the basis of said information, the
complainant lodged First Information Report (for short 'FIR'). In
pursuant to that the statement of victim girl was recorded on 14 th
November, 2017. Statement of Smt. Nevgi were recorded. The
mother of victim was recorded on 14th November, 2017. Statements
of other witnesses were recorded. Statement of victim was recorded
under Section 164 of Cr.P.C. and similarly the complainant's
statement is also recorded under Section 164 of Cr.P.C.
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3. The applicant had preferred an application for bail
before the Sessions Court. The said application was rejected vide
order dated 23rd May, 2019.
4. Learned Advocate for the applicant submitted that the
applicant is in custody from 30 th November, 2017. For a period of
about three and half years he is in jail. There is no progress in trial.
The applicant has been falsely implicated in this case. There is
delay in lodging FIR. The statements of the complainant, victim
recorded under Sections 161 & 164 of Cr.P.C. are contradictory.
There is no reason for not lodging the complaint or intimating the
incidents to the mother by the victim. It is further submitted that
the allegations in the FIR are concocted. The applicant is a Priest.
He used to offer prayers for everyone. The applicant has given loan
to complainant which was not returned. The applicant has relied
upon the photographs which shows that the relationship between
the victim and applicant were cordial and nothing is visible which
shows that the victim had any grievance against the applicant. The
applicant has also relied upon other photographs shows that the
victim was acquainted with some other person. It is submitted that
the victim had travelled along with applicant by Aeroplane during
the period when she has alleged that she was being sexually
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assaulted. Copies of the air tickets are annexed to this application.
The applicant cannot be detained in custody for indefinite period. It
is not clear as to when the trial would commence and come to an
end. The co-accused Khushbu Raja has been granted bail.
5. Learned APP submitted that there is no reason for the
victim and her mother to file complaint against the applicant. The
FIR and the statement of the victim recorded under Section 164 of
Cr.P.C. attributes specific overt act of sexual assault to the applicant.
The medical evidence supports the case of the prosecution. The
victim was minor. The provisions of POCSO Act are invoked in this
case. The statement of Smt. Nevgi also implicates the applicant
alleging that the applicant had outraged her modesty. The applicant
be directed to delete the photographs annexed to this application.
6. Learned counsel for the complainant submitted that
the offence is of serious nature. The victim was minor. There are
several incidents of sexual assault which are reflected in the
statement of the victim. The victim has alleged that the accused
had threatened that he had video clips. The applicant is not
permanent resident. The version of the victim cannot be discarded
at this stage.
7. The FIR was lodged by the mother of victim. From the
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tenor of the FIR it is apparent that the victim had not disclosed the
incidents of sexual assault to the complainant and it is only after
she was informed by another lady Smt. Varsha Nevgi alleging that
she was subjected to outraging modesty and she should find out
whether her daughter was also subjected to such treatment, the
complainant allegedly took her daughter in confidence and the
incidents were disclosed to her. The case of the complainant that
accused and the family of complainant were acquainted with each
other since 2014. The applicant was allegedly dropping the victim
to school and used to accompany her while returning home.
Surprisingly, the complainant had not noticed the objectionable
behaviour of the applicant. The victim have not specified the dates
of the incidents. The first incident had occurred somewhere in -
2015 and subsequent incidents continued thereafter, in - 2016 and
in April - 2017. The victim had never disclosed those incidents to
her mother or to any other person earlier. It is also alleged that the
victim was subjected to sexual assault in April - 2017 by the
applicant and the co-accused Khushbu Raja. No complaint was
lodged either against the applicant or Khushbu Raja. Smt. Nevgi
had alleged in her statement that in September - 2017 she was
subjected to act of outraging modesty. Even she did not lodge any
complaint in respect to the said incidet. The statement of victim
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was recorded on 22nd November, 2017 under Section 164 of Cr.P.C.
On perusal of the said statement it can be seen that there is
improvisation in the said statement. The statement reflects details
which were not found in her statement recorded under Section 161
of Cr.P.C. The applicant has relied upon certain photographs
indicate that the said photographs were clicked during the period
when alleged incident had occurred and the photographs shows
that the relationship was apparently cordial between the applicant
and victim. Applicant is directed to delete/remove the photographs
from paper book/application. The co-accused Khushbu Raja who
had allegedly subjected the victim to sexual assault along with
applicant on 24th April, 2017 has been granted bail. The applicant
has also relied upon the air tickets which indicate that the victim
had travelled with the applicant along with her mother on 17 th
February, 2016. This is not the stage to give any finding with
regards to the genuineness of the FIR and other statements.
Having considered the averments in the statements and the
observations as stated above, and considering the fact that the
applicant is in custody since last three and half years, further
detention of the applicant is not necessary.
8. Hence, I pass the following order:
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ORDER
(i) Criminal Bail Application No. 2891 of 2019 is allowed;
(ii) The applicant is directed to be released on bail in connection with C.R. No. 361 of 2017 registered with Vitthalwadi Police Station, Ulhas Nagar, Dist. Thane on executing P.R. Bond in the sum of Rs.25,000/- with one or more local sureties in the like amount;
(iii) The applicant shall report concerned Police Station once in three months on first Saturday of the month between 11:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. till further order;
(iv) Application stands disposed of accordingly.
(PRAKASH D. NAIK, J.)
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