New Delhi: A single-judge bench of the Delhi High Court on Friday granted anticipatory bail to a doctor of the Safdarjung Hospital here, who has been accused of promising marriage to a make-up artist and then raping her after slipping drugs in her drink.
Justice Subramonium Prasad, while granting the relief to the doctor, said this was "not a case of forceful sexual assault" but also said that whether the woman's consent was violated or not will be established only in the trial. The court added in its order, "The prosecutrix is a make-up artist and is a resident of Delhi. It cannot be said that she is a naive lady..."
Justice Prasad, in the March 22 order, also said that the accused is a doctor working in Safdarjung Hospital and it cannot be said that he would be in a position to terrorise the woman or tamper with evidence.
According to the victim's complaint in the case, her father had suffered a heart attack in January 2019 and when she took her to the Safdarjung Hospital, she met the accused as he was the on-duty doctor. They got to know each other and the accused also visited the woman's residence to formally propose marriage and asked for her profile.
Later, the woman said the doctor called her to meet often and once, she was called to one of his friends' house where she alleged she was first given a drink laced with drugs and then raped while unconscious. She said she realised she had been raped when she regained consciousness.
When confronted, the doctor allegedly threatened to make public purported videos of her, the woman said, adding that she was called on multiple occasions to hotels after this and raped. The FIR was registered in January this year.
Seeking bail the doctor's counsel submitted that the FIR was registered on the allegation that the petitioner took the woman to his friend's flat on June 9, 2019 where she was raped.
However, this story has been completely given a go by and now the allegation is that the man promised marriage and established physical relationship with her, he argued, adding that no useful purpose would be served by arresting the doctor.
The court agreed and said, "There are contradictions between the initial version and the present version of the prosecutrix. This court has perused all the records and does not find any promise of marriage. There is no further material which has to be recovered from the petitioner. The sexual relationship was established on the promise of marriage or not is a matter of trial and has to be established during the trial."
"In view the above, this court finds it just and expedient to grant bail to the petitioner (doctor) in the event of arrest...," the court said, directing the doctor to give all his mobile numbers and addresses to the investigating officer and that he shall report to the concerned police station on every Monday.
The petitioner shall not tamper with evidence or exert pressure on the prosecutrix. It is made clear and needless to state that the observations made in this order are only for the purpose of grant of bail and not on the merits of the case, the high court said.