Orissa High Court
Korimilli Venkata Sreenivas vs State Of Odisha ....... Opp. Party on 18 October, 2023
Author: Sashikanta Mishra
Bench: Sashikanta Mishra
IN THE HIGH COURT OF ORISSA AT CUTTACK
ABLAPL No. 10667 of 2023
Application under Section 438 of Cr.P.C.
---------------
Korimilli Venkata Sreenivas ....... Petitioner
- Versus -
State of Odisha ....... Opp. Party
Advocate(s) appeared in this case:-
_________________________________________________________
For Petitioner : Mr. Asok Mohanty Sr. Advocate with
M/s. Sumit Sekhar Pattnaik, B.B.
Sahoo, S. Sattapathy & A. Priya.
Advocates
For Opp. Party : Mr. S.K. Mishra,
Addl. Standing Counsel
M/s. Mr. Manas Kumar Chand,
R.R. Mishra & A.K. Sahoo, Advocates
[For informant]
_________________________________________________________
CORAM:
JUSTICE SASHIKANTA MISHRA
JUDGMENT
th 18 October, 2023 SASHIKANTA MISHRA, J.
The petitioner is apprehending arrest in connection with Laxmisagar P.S. Case No. 261 of 2023 corresponding to T.R. Case No. 344 of 2023 pending in the Court of Page 1 of 7 learned Special Judge, POCSO Court, Bhubaneswar for the alleged commission of offence under Section 376 (3) of IPC read with Section 6 of POCSO Act.
2. The prosecution case is that an FIR was lodged by the informant (name withheld) in the Laxmisagar Police Station on 27.06.2023 alleging therein that on 23.06.2023 while her minor daughter 'X' was alone at home, the accused, who is otherwise known to the family, came there and molested her by disrobing her, gagging her and fondled her private parts and breasts. He also inserted his finger in her vagina while making several attempts to have intercourse with her. The victim girl somehow managed to push the accused aside and ran away and locked herself in the bathroom. The accused thereafter left the house after threatening the victim to not disclose the incident to anyone. The victim called her elder sister and narrated the whole incident while weeping inconsolably. Hearing about the incident from the victim's elder sister, her parents rushed home and the victim again narrated the incident before them.
Page 2 of 7
3. Basing on such written complaint the aforementioned case has been registered and presently, investigation is in progress.
4. Heard Mr. Ashok Mohanty, learned Senior Counsel assisted by Mr. D. Das, learned counsel for the petitioner; Mr. S.K. Mishra, learned Addl. Standing Counsel for the State and Mr. Manas Chand, learned Counsel for the informant.
5. Mr. Mohanty learned Senior Counsel would submit that the allegations are false and baseless which can be easily inferred from the unexplained delay in lodging the FIR. In any case, the allegations are grossly exaggerated which would be evident from the wide variations in the statements of the victim and the informant and others as recorded by the investigating officer under Section 161 Cr.P.C. He further submits that the falsity of case would also be apparent from the fact that the wife of the accused had lodged an FIR against the husband of the informant alleging sexual assault and therefore, the present FIR is nothing but a counterblast Page 3 of 7 intended to nullify the earlier FIR. Since the FIR of the wife of the accused was not registered she had approached the State Commission for Women by submitting a complaint on 23.06.2023 that is, four days prior to the alleged incident involving the present victim. The husband of the informant was called upon time and again by the Commission but he did not appear nor cooperated with the enquiry. The FIR of the petitioner's wife was ultimately registered under Sections 354/354(a)(2)/376(1)/606/34 IPC as Laxmisagar P.S. Case No. 305 of 2023 corresponding to C.T. No. 706 of 2022 of the Court of JMFC (Cog) IV, Bhubaneswar and is under investigation. It is further submitted that the husband of the petitioner had also sent Whatsapp messages to the wife of the petitioner and so, the present FIR lodged by the informant by planting her own child as a victim is out and out false and baseless. The petitioner himself is an officer in the Indian Air Force with an unblemished career and has no criminal proclivities.
6. Per contra, Mr. Mishra, learned State Counsel would argue that the present case has no nexus with the Page 4 of 7 FIR lodged by the petitioner's wife which in any case, is being investigated. But in so far as the present case is concerned, there are ample materials to show that the accused had committed the crime as alleged by the informant. Mr. Mishra has further referred to the statement of the victim recorded under Section 161 Cr.P.C. to submit that the child has described the offence clearly and there is no reason to doubt her veracity at this stage. Since the petitioner sexually assaulted a minor child, no leniency should be shown to him.
7. I have heard counsel for the parties in detail. I have also perused the case diary and other materials on record carefully including the medical examination report of the victim girl as produced by the petitioner. The statement of the victim was recorded by the investigating officer as also by the Magistrate under Section 164 Cr.P.C. Perusal of said statement reveals that she has described the occurrence in vivid detail and in all material particulars. Mr. Mohanty has pointed out certain discrepancies in her statement viz-a-viz the statement of Page 5 of 7 her mother (informant) but then this is hardly the stage to delve deep into it. It would suffice for the present purpose to see whether a prima facie case is made out against the petitioner or not. After perusing the statements as above, this Court is left with no doubt that a strong prima facie case exists against the petitioner. The plea of false implication due to a previous case involving the husband of the informant and the like does not cut much ice because, it is highly improbable that a mother, that too one with some standing in the society as the informant, would go so far as to project her own child as a victim of sexual assault only to settle scores with the accused. And then there is the version of the victim herself, which this Court has found prima facie acceptable and not one to be cast aside as a product of tutoring. The victim is not an infant but a girl aged between 14 to 16 years having attained puberty as evident from the medical examination report, so she must be deemed to be aware of the consequences of what she is saying, something that could tell upon her dignity. Therefore, this cannot be treated as a case where a false Page 6 of 7 accusation is made only to lower the dignity and prestige of the petitioner in the society and that an order of pre-arrest bail is essentially required to protect him from the ignominy of arrest by police. On the contrary, the petitioner is himself an elderly person being aged about 51 years. He is a member of the armed forces (Air Force) the members of which are supposed to conduct themselves with discipline and ethics. This Court has prima facie, found his conduct highly unbecoming of his status and position in the society.
8. For the foregoing reasons therefore, I find no reason to treat the petitioner with any leniency whatsoever so as to grant him pre-arrest bail.
9. The ABLAPL stands rejected.
.................................
Sashikanta Mishra, Judge Orissa High Court, Cuttack.
The 18th October, 2023/ A.K. Rana, P.A. Signature Not Verified Digitally Signed Signed by: AJAYA KUMAR RANA Designation: Personal Assistant Reason: Authentication Location: High Court of Orissa, Cuttack Page 7 of 7 Date: 18-Oct-2023 20:25:48