PRAGYA PRATEEK SHUKLA Vs. STATE OF RAJASTHAN

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The instant application for suspension of sentence under Sec. 389 Cr.P.C. has been preferred on behalf of the appellant-applicants (1) Pragya Prateek Shukla S/o Shyam Prakash and (2) Priya Shukla W/o Pragya Prateek Shukla, who have been convicted and sentenced as below vide the judgment dtd. 8/10/2021 passed by the learned Special Judge, POCSO Act Cases and the Commission for Protection of Child Rights Act, 2005, Cases, Bikaner in Sessions Case No. 68/2018:

(2.) Learned counsel Mr. Vineet Jain, representing the appellant-applicants, vehemently and fervently contends that the conviction of the appellant-applicants as recorded by the trial court for the above offences is absolutely unwarranted. The allegation set out in the FIR (Ex.P/2) that the appellant Priya Shukla pushed the victim Mst. 'D' into the room of the PTI Vijendra Singh was not found proved by the trial court vide findings recorded in para No. 94 of the impugned judgment. The trial court convicted the appellants by recording a finding that the appellants herein abetted the victim to commit suicide. In this regard, the trial court relied upon the letters Ex.P/55 and Ex.P/56 written by the accused Vijendra Singh and the deceased respectively. Mr. Jain submits that the appellant Pragya Prateek Shukla was working as a Faculty Member in the BSTC college whereas, the appellant Priya Shukla was the Warden in the hostel, where the deceased was staying as a boarder. She had just returned from her village. The other girls in the hostel informed the appellant Pragya regarding the victim having gone missing, on which, an extensive search was made in presence of the other girls staying in the hostel and the nurse. Ultimately, the victim was found present inside the room of the PTI Vijendra Singh. In this background, it was absolutely natural for the persons incharge to have made enquiries to find out the reason for this unnatural behaviour and in this process, the letters Ex.P/55 and Ex.P/56 were voluntarily written by the co-accused Vijendra Singh and the victim. There is no element of confession/admission in either of these letters and thus, it cannot be held that the appellants herein coerced the victim to write a confessional letter, which can be considered as a circumstance which instigated the girl to commit suicide. Mr. Jain further submitted that as the incident took place in the odd hours of the night, it would be too harsh to expect that the appellants would immediately realize that the victim was a minor and thus, the matter should be forthwith reported to the authorities. Neither the victim nor the co-accused Vijendra Singh made any disclosure regarding having indulged in any sexual relations and thus, they were simply advised in routine to write down the gist of the circumstances in which they were found together and in this process, the letters Ex.P/55 and Ex.P/56 were voluntarily written by the co-accused Vijendra Singh and the victim Mst. 'D' and as such, conviction of the appellants for the offences punishable under Sec. 305 IPC and Sec. 21 of the POCSO Act is totally unjustified. Mr. Jain further submits that after the process of bonafide enquiry had been completed, the victim went back to sleep in her room. In the morning, she woke up and then jumped into the water body, thereby ending her life. There is no evidence to show that the appellants were in contact with the victim during this period. There is no evidence to show that the appellants were conscious of the fact that the girl was minor on the date of incident. He further contended that the appellants were on bail during the course of trial and they did not misuse the liberty so granted to them. Hearing of the appeal is bound to consume time. On these grounds, Mr. Jain implored the court to accept the application for suspension of sentences and direct enlargement of the appellants on bail during the pendency of the appeal.

(3.) We have given our thoughtful consideration to the submissions advanced at bar and have gone through the material available on record. It would be premature for this Court to record any opinion on the issue whether or not the appellants were aware regarding the victim being below 18 years of age, as it would be subject matter of extensive appreciation of evidence and any observation by this court on this aspect of the case at this stage may prejudice the outcome of the appeal. However, the fact remains that the absence of the victim in the dormitory was reported to the appellant Priya Shukla, the hostel warden, whereafter, a search was made in the natural course of events and the girl was found inside the room of the PTI Vijendra Singh with the door bolted. We are of the view that there was nothing abnormal/unnatural for the hostel warden and her husband, a teacher in the college, in which, the victim was studying to have made enquiries as to the circumstances in which, the girl had been found inside the room of the PTI in the dead of the night. It appears that at that stage, neither the co-accused Vijendra Singh nor the girl made any admission regarding they being involved in any kind of sexual relations. Prime facie, other than an admission that she was wrong in going to the room of the PTI Vijendra Singh, there is hardly anything in the letter Ex.P/56, which can be considered enough to brand it to be an admission by the victim. In this background, we are of the firm view that the applicants have an arguable case that they did not pressurize the girl nor did they try to extract any confession/admission from her. Whether or not the circumstances, which came to light in the dead of the night on 29/3/2016 warranted immediate reporting of the matter to the police would also require elaborate consideration at the stage of final disposal of the appeal. Incidents are not uncommon where after deliberations, it is decided in a bonafide manner not to report such matters to the police, lest the reputation of the girl is tarnished. This aspect gains more importance because the hostel warden/higher ups would definitely have preferred to deliberate with the parents of the girl before taking any such action.