The Bombay High Court in the case Prashant @ Sonya Ramesh Sabale v. State of Maharashtra and Anr. observed and has cancelled the bail granted by Sessions Court to a man accused of extorting and defaming a child with obscene photos after finding that he had obtained bail from sessions court during the pendency of his bail application before the High Court.
The bench headed by Justice PK Chavan in the case observed and has noted that in the accused obtained bail from Sessions Court, Pune despite claiming in his bail application before the High Court that no case for bail was pending in any other court.
The court in the case observed and has stated that this court has been misled which is a serious thing which also amounts to interference in the judicial process and, therefore, bail granted by the Additional Sessions Judge, Pune on June 10, 2022 to the applicant in Special Case No.273 of 2022 is cancelled.
In the present case, the man is booked for offenses punishable under section 354-D, section 500, and section 509 of the Indian Penal Code, IPC and Section 8, Section 12, Section 14, and Section 15 of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, 2012, as well as Section 65-B of the Information Technology Act.
The said case is against the accused is that he defamed the victim by making her obscene photos viral.
It has been alleged by the minor girl, the victim that the accused had developed a relationship with her and coerced her into sending obscene photos by threatening to defame her.
The Session Court in the case observed and has granted him bail wherein stating that the victim was about 16 years old and used social media applications, indicating she was of understandable.
It has also been stated by the Session Court that there is no evidence suggesting that the accused forwarded the obscene photographs. Therefore, the court observed that the subsequent revelation of this bail granted by the Sessions Court led to the High Court’s decision to cancel the bail during the proceedings in his bail application before the HC.
The counsel, Advocate Mahendra Kawchale appearing for the accused tendered an unconditional apology.
It has been claimed by him that he was misled by one of the applicant’s relatives who falsely informed him that the bail application pending before the High Court had been withdrawn by the new lawyer. The court in the case observed and has noted that there was no mention of a withdrawal request before the High Court.
The court cancelled the bail granted by the Session Court and the surety was discharged.
The court in the case observed and has directed the accused, who was present in the court, to surrender before the concerned court on Saturday, February 24, 2024, at 11:00.
The court also directed the Principal District Judge, Pune to ensure the necessary steps for placing the accused in judicial custody until the conclusion of the trial.
Accordingly, the court listed the matter for further consideration on February 26, 2024.
The counsel, Advocates Mahendra V. Kawchale, Premkumar N. Mishra, and Satish Hargude appeared for the Applicant.
The counsel, Advocate APP Ashish Satpute represented the State.