SC sets aside Madhya Pradesh HC verdict on discharging rape accused
Aug 19, 2022
New Delhi [India], August 19 : The Supreme Court has set aside a verdict of the Madhya Pradesh High Court which discharged an accused in a rape case essentially on the ground of delay in the registration of the First Information Report (FIR).
A bench of Justices DY Chandrachud and JB Pardiwala termed the High Court order as "utterly incomprehensible" and said the facts of this litigation were quite "heart-breaking".
The bench quashed the order of the High Court and held that the order could be termed as "perverse and not sustainable in law".
"At the cost of repetition, we state that the impugned order of the High Court is utterly incomprehensible. We have yet to come across a case where the High Court has thought fit to discharge an accused charged with the offence of rape on the ground of delay in the registration of the FIR," the apex court in its order stated.
The apex court, however, did not interfere with the decision of the trial court of discharging the accused Amit Kumar Tiwari from the offence punishable under Section 306 of the IPC (abetment to the commission of suicide).
While setting aside the order of the High Court dated December 2, 2021, the apex court allowed the trial court to proceed with the trial in accordance with the order framing charge dated December 18, 2020.
As per the case, on April 27, 2020, the victim had complained of stomach pain and was taken to a private nursing home, thinking it was a case of stomach tumour. While waiting for the doctor at the nursing home, the girl delivered a child on the bench and was rushed to the minor operation theatre.
The girl told her father that Tiwari was the father of her child and they both would start a new life with their baby. The father of the girl went to bring some money from the village and by the time he returned, the victim had committed suicide and the infant was lying on the dressing table.
After the death of the girl, an FIR was lodged against the accused. The trial court framed charges for rape and provisions of the POCSO Act against Tiwari.
