ANKUR Vs. STATE OF HARYANA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The present petition has been filed under Sec. 438 of the Code of Criminal Procedure for the grant of anticipatory bail to the petitioner in case bearing FIR No.0203 dtd. 9/5/2021, under Ss. 120-B/342/354/365/376-D/506 of Indian Penal Code, 1860, registered at Police Station City Bahadurgarh, District Jhajjar.

(2.) As per the allegations contained in the aforesaid FIR a complaint was made by one Utpal Basu stated to be a trade union activist and member of Association for Protection of Democratic Rights (APDR) and resident of Hoogli, West Bengal by stating that he had a daughter aged 25 years who was an artist and an ornament designer. She was also a supporter of the farmers' movement. On 1st April, a delegation of six persons including Anil Malik, Anuj Singh Chanaut, Ankur Sangwan (petitioner), Kovita Arya, Jagdish Brar and Yogita Suhag reached Bengal as a part of the campaign by Samyukt Kisan Morcha. The daughter of the complainant met them on 4th April at Hoogli and while conducting public meeting the daughter of the complainant got involved with the group and wanted to join them. She contacted Yogita who directed her to contact Anil Malik as he was the co-ordinator of the Association. She had earlier been involved with popular protests and movements and expressed her desire to travel with the group to Delhi. Although the complainant was initially reluctant but finally he agreed to let her go to Delhi and in April she left from Howrah station for Delhi along with five other persons namely, Anil Malik, Anup Singh Chanaut, Ankur Sangwan (petitioner), Jagdish Brar and Kovita Arya. Since Anil was the senior most member, the complainant requested him to look after Moumita like his sister. In the train at night when everyone had slept, Anil came to his daughter's berth and forced himself on her and held her hands and kissed her forcefully. The complainant's daughter told him to go away and asked him not to repeat that behaviour. On 12th April the group reached Delhi where they were taken to Tikri Border site where farmers were staying in tents and since she did not know anyone else and was yet to understand things at the new place, she stayed at the tent of Kisan Social Army along with Anil Malik, Anup Singh Chanaut and Ankur Sangwan (Petitioner). She narrated the train incident to the complainant on phone for the first time on 14thApril and was feeling very hesitant while speaking and she said that Anil and Anup are not decent people and they were blackmailing her and the complainant told her to speak to some women over there and also to inform the local committee and seek their help immediately. And when complainant got in touch with her over the phone and she told her that she was under pressure and finally on 16th April she told that she had confided in Yogita and Jagdish, and that Yogita had also made a video of her statement on the same day in the presence of Jagdish. The same is also stored in the phone of his daughter. On 16th and 17thApril, she also told the complainant over phone that she had passed blood with urine and complainant asked her to take immediate help from women around her and see a doctor if required. She told the complainant on 16th April that she had moved to another tent with the help of Yogita. On 17th April the complainant spoke to Yogita and requested her to help his daughter. On 18th April she told the complainant that she had met with lawyers and it was decided in the meeting that the incident of sexual harassment will be brought to the notice of the leaders of the Morcha. On the same evening with the help of Yogita she was shifted to tent near pillar No.774 where there were more women. After a few days, she called the complainant to say that she was feeling relaxed because she had her menstrual discharge. The complainant asked her that what was there to be happy about and she said that you men will not understand. Thereafter the complainant started placing the things together and was convinced that something grave had happened with his daughter. On 21st April she developed mild fever followed by vomiting and loose motions and she took some medicines from the medical camp at Tikri but her condition did notimprove much. By 24th April she had cough and breathing difficulty and on 24th April, she got in touch with one Mr. Avik Shah, who lives in Kolkata and is associated with Jai Kisan Andolan, and requested him for medical help who put him in touch with his friend Dr. Amit Vats in Delhi. Mr. Yogendra Yadav one of the leaders on the Samyukt Kisan Morcha also checked her medical condition on phone by speaking to her. On 25thApril, Anil and Anup got an idea that daughter of the complainant is in touch with the leaders of the Morcha, so they decided to remove her from Tikri and the complainant got a call from his daughter's number and a person who introduced himself to be member of the local committee spoke with him. They also wanted to send the girl to West Bengal but the complainant refused because she needed medical attention and they made the complainant to speak to with her when she sounded very low and was relentless on the condition that she be accompanied by a woman and that Anil and Anup must be kept away. After a while when the complainant called his daughter, he learnt that she was sent in a car with Anil and Anup and therefore, he got worried and contacted Dr. Amit who informed Mr. Yadav and Anil told Mr. Yadav on phone that they were taking the girl to Bengal on her father's request and they had reached Agra. However, the daughter of the complainant sent her location to Mr. Yadav on Whatsapp which showed that she was somewhere around Hansi in Haryana. Mr. Yadav intervened and asked Anil to drive back to Bahadurgarh and threatened him with police action if they did not do so. This was a clear attempt to abduct the daughter of the complainant by two assaulters. The daughter of the complainant was brought back to Tikri on the night of 25th and 26thand the local committee took her to PGI, Rohtak where there were no beds and finally she was admitted to Shivam Hospital at Bahadurgarh and was diagnosed with Covid-19 and was treated there. However, her condition remained unstable and the complainant was informed about this by Dr. Amit. Thereafter, the complainant reached Delhi on 29th April and was with his daughter at the hospital where she told him about the incident that had transpired in the train and at the KSA tent and she told him that during her stay at the KSA tent, she was sexually assaulted by Anil Malik and Anup Singh helped him. She was under pressure and constant watch by Anil and Anup at the tent. She also told that something wrong has happened to her and, therefore, the complainant could now place why she happily said her menstrual discharge had happened and what was the reason for passing of blood with urine. She also asked the complainant to ensure that Anil and Anup were punished. She also asked the complainant to ensure that the farmers movement should not be harmed. However, she died in the morning of 30th April.

(3.) The learned counsel for the petitioner submitted that the petitioner has been falsely implicated in the present case in view of the fact that going by the allegations contained in the FIR, the allegations pertain to two persons namely, Anil Malik and Anup Singh but there are no direct allegations against the petitioner in the FIR which has been lodged by the complainant who is father of the deceased girl. He submitted that in the absence of any direct allegation against the petitioner, the petitioner may be considered for grant of anticipatory bail. Learned counsel further submitted that although as per the allegation, the petitioner was staying in the tent along with other co-accused and the deceased but no presumption can arise that the petitioner was also involved in the alleged incident.