The Supreme Court on Thursday declined to cancel the bail granted to former chief secretary of Andaman and Nicobar Islands Jitendra Narain in a rape case filed by a 21-year-old woman. A bench of Justices Vikram Nath and Ahsanuddin Amanulla directed the trial court to expedite the trial and the parties are to cooperate.
“Further, we have provided that there was some apprehension expressed by the survivor. So we have directed the Union Territory administration to deal with any complaint made by her. We have also directed the trial court to expedite the trial and all parties to cooperate,” the bench stated in its order.
The Port Blair circuit bench of the Calcutta High Court had granted bail to suspended AGMUT cadre IAS officer Narain in February.
A Special Investigation Team (SIT) had probed the allegation that the woman was lured to the Chief Secretary’s residence on the promise of a government job and raped by multiple people, including Narain.
On November 10, 2022, Narain was arrested after an FIR was registered on October 1 when he was posted as the chairman and managing director of the Delhi Financial Corporation. On October 17 he was suspended.
The SIT filed a 935-page charge sheet in the case on February 3 this year.
There was no reason for granting bail to the former chief secretary when a prima facie case was made out against him from the material on record, the prosecution has contended before the top court while also alleging destruction of evidence, including CCTV footage, in the case. The prosecution counsel said that the prosecutrix’s statement is enough to prove a case of rape.
On the other hand, counsel for the accused claimed Narain was implicated in a “strategically created” case that was hyped out of proportion.
The defence claimed there were discrepancies in the statements of the victim in respect of the dates when the alleged incidents took place.
According to the police, the charge sheet against Narain, businessman Sandeep Singh alias Rinku and suspended labour commissioner Rishishwarlal Rishi is based on the statements of nearly 90 witnesses, forensic reports and electronic evidence.