A recent ruling by the Allahabad high court has triggered a sharp reaction from Shiv Sena (UBT) Rajya Sabha MP Priyanka Chaturvedi.
The court granted bail to a man accused of raping a college student, noting in its order that the woman had “invited trouble” and was “responsible” for the alleged act, according to a report on LiveLaw.
Chaturvedi criticised the decision on social media, saying, “Allahabad high court seriously needs better judges. No action taken against Justice Mishra regarding his pathetic judgement earlier though SC stayed it and now we have this.”
The bail order, passed by a bench of Justice Sanjay Kumar Singh, came in a case involving a woman who alleged that a man raped her twice after taking her to a relative’s flat in Gurgaon.
According to the woman, she met the accused at a bar in Delhi where she had gone with three friends. After consuming alcohol, she became heavily intoxicated.
The man, she said, insisted that she accompany him to his house so she could rest. Expecting to be taken to his Noida residence, she agreed.
However, he took her to a relative’s place in Gurgaon instead, where she alleges he raped her.
“This Court is of the view that even if the allegation of the victim is accepted as true, then it can also be concluded that she herself invited trouble and was also responsible for the same. Similar stand has been taken by the victim in her statement. In her medical examination, her hymen was found torn but doctor did not give any opinion about the sexual assault,” LiveLaw quoted the Allahabad high court as saying.
The bench also said that since the woman was an MA student, she was competent enough to understand the “morality and significance of her act” as disclosed in the FIR.
Seeking bail, the accused's lawyer argued that even if all the allegations were accepted, it would not constitute rape but pointed to a “consensual relationship”. The counsel added that the accused had no prior criminal history and had been in jail since December 2024.
“Considering the facts and circumstances of the case as well as keeping in view the nature of the offence, evidence, complicity of the accused and submissions of the learned counsel for the parties, I am of the view that the applicant has made out a fit case for bail. Hence, the bail application is hereby allowed,” the bench said, according to a LiveLaw report.