NEW DELHI: The Delhi High Court has granted interim bail for 45 days to a 23-year-old man, accused of raping a minor, noting that the girl's birth certificate showed her to be a major at the time of alleged offence in 2019.
The court noted that the accused has produced a birth certificate of the girl which showed her to be born in June 2000.
"There is thus a serious question whether any offence under the Protection Of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act is made out because if the said birth certificate is accepted the girl was a major on the date of the incident," Justice Vibhu Bakhru said in the order.
The court noted that the police was also investigating whether a honey trap had been laid.
The man, through advocate Shubham Shree, sought interim bail on the ground that his father was suffering from a heart ailment and had undergone a surgical procedure on April 29 and he was required to attend to his father as no other family member was in a position to do so.
The man was arrested in 2019 pursuant of an FIR lodged against him at Sarita Vihar police station in south Delhi for the alleged offences of rape and criminal intimidation.
According to the FIR, the girl was 17 years old at the time of the alleged incident and she had become friends with the man through social media and met him a few times.
She had alleged that the man had taken her to a guest house in Sarita Vihar and established physical relations without her consent.
The man claimed that the relationship was consensual and alleged that on the day of the incident, they had gone to another guest house where the management refused to check them in as the girl was not carrying her identity proof.
His lawyer said this established that the relationship between the man and the complainant girl was consensual and claimed there was some dispute between their fathers which was concealed.
According to the police, it has been verified that the girl and the man had visited another guest house, where they were denied admission, prior to checking into a room in Sarita Vihar.
The court, in its order, said, In view of the above and considering that the petitioner's (man) father is ailing, this court considers it apposite to allow the present petition.
The petitioner shall be released for a period of forty-five days from the date of his release on bail on his furnishing a personal bond in the sum of Rs 5000 to the satisfaction of the Jail Superintendent.
The court asked the man not to leave the national capital and to provide his contact number which should be reachable at all times.
He should be available for all proceedings and surrender on completion of the period of interim bail, it said.