Pawan Kumar vs State Of H.P

Vivek Singh Thakur, J

This petition has been filed under Section 439 of Cr.P.C., seeking grant of regular bail to the petitioner, in case FIR No.93 of 2018, dated 16.10.2018, registered in Police Station Jubbal, District Shimla, H.P. under Sections 376, 323 and 451 of the Indian Penal Code (hereinafter referred to as 'IPC' in short) and Section 4 of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, 2012 (hereinafter referred to as 'POCSO Act').

Status report stands filed.

Petitioner, in present case, has been arrested on 16. 10.2018. In the status report, statement of the victim's father, complainant, has been reiterated on the basis of which FIR was lodged.

It is also reported that during investigation victim was also subjected to medical examination and as per opinion of the Medical Officer, possibility of recent sexual intercourse could not be ruled out, however, he had kept final opinion pending to be given after chemical examination report.

During investigation, report of State Forensic Science Laboratory (SFSL), Junga was also obtained indicating presence of human semen on the clothes and vaginal smear of the victim and also underwear of the petitioner. The Result of the DNA profiling indicates an autosomal STR DNA profile pertaining to a male individual was obtained from pants of the victim and that STR DNA profile matches with the autosomal STR DNA profile obtained from blood sample of the petitioner.

Lastly, on the basis of report of SFSL, Medical Officer had opined that sexual intercourse might have taken place in recent hours.

Learned Deputy Advocate General, under instructions, submits that thirteen witnesses have been examined and now case has been fixed for 15.10.2020 for presence of parties.

Considering entire facts placed before me and also nature and gravity of alleged offence, I am of the considered view that petitioner is not entitled for bail, at this stage.

Accordingly, petition is dismissed with a direction to the parties to ensure their effective appearance before the trial Court, so as to enable it to record the evidence at the earliest and conclude the trial as expeditiously possible. Parties are also directed to avoid unnecessary adjournments.

Needless to say that trial Court shall adhere to the Notification(s)/Circular(s) issued by the High Court from time to time in this regard and to take all safety measures to avoid spread of COVID-19 pandemic.

Anything observed in this petition, shall not be construed any observation with respect to merits of the case. All those observations shall be construed to be a reference for deciding present petition.