State vs Arman (2015) 67 DLR (AD) 181

The facts of the case

A person who is 65 years old committed sexual assault on a girl who is a minor. The accused was caught red-handed after the incident.  He had also confessed his guilt. Then he was handed over to the police on the spot. The medical report also shows that it was a sexual assault.

Issues

Is the bail from the High Court Division granted to the accused reasonable or not?

Decision

No, the bail was not reasonable.  Because the petitioner became infructuous in this case. There were not any reasonable grounds for granting bail to the accused person.

Justification

1. The Learned Attorney General argued that the High Court Division exceeded its norms in admitting the accused on ad-interim bail against someone who has committed a heinous crime.

2. He also argued that, according to section 19(2) (ka) of Nari-o- ShishuNirjatan Daman Ain the court can grant bail without hearing the informant if the accused is a woman or child or sick or infirm. But in this case, the High Court Division has granted bail to the accused without hearing the informant.

3. The Learned Attorney General also argued that the courts are bound to exercise their discretion judiciously.  But here the accused - respondent gets bail for a period of 6 months in spite of doing a heinous crime like rape.

4. So, the petition is disposed of with the above observations. A Division Bench presided by Moyeenul Islam Chowdhury; J directed to dispose of the appeal by 20th June 2013.

Written By---
Imtiaz Ara Suborna
Department of Land Management and Law
Jagannath University, Dhaka