Allahabad High Court’s Justice Sanjay Kumar Singh granted bail to a rape accused, saying the victim “invited trouble” and was “responsible.” Similar controversial comments were made by the judge in a separate rape case earlier this year.
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UTTAR PRADESH: Justice Sanjay Kumar Singh of the Allahabad High Court gave bail to a man accused of rape. In his order, the judge made controversial remarks about the victim, who is a postgraduate student.
According to her, the accused raped her last year in Delhi. However, the court said she had “invited trouble” and was “responsible” for what happened.
While allowing the bail plea of the accused, Justice Singh said,
“Victim is student of M.A., hence she was competent enough to understand the morality and significance of her act as disclosed by her in the FIR. 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.”
The judge also said,
“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.”
The bail order was passed on 11 March, where Justice Singh said that the accused should be released after he submits a personal bond and two sureties of equal amount, to the satisfaction of the court.
What the Defence Claimed
According to the lawyer of the accused, the victim is a “consenting adult” and was staying in a postgraduate (PG) hostel. On 21 September 2024, she allegedly went to The Record Room Bar Restaurant in Delhi along with her male and female friends. There, she got heavily drunk, as per the defence.
After the party, the group stayed at the bar till 3 AM. At that point, she needed help, and as per the defence version, she agreed to go to the accused’s house “to rest”. But the victim later claimed that the accused took her to a relative’s flat and raped her twice.
The accused’s lawyer said this allegation was “false and against the evidence on record.”
The victim filed a police complaint on 23 September 2024 at a police station in Sector 126, Gautam Buddha Nagar.
The defence argued that the facts described by the victim seem to show a consensual relationship, not rape. The lawyer also added that the accused was not a flight risk, would not disturb the investigation, and had already been in custody since 11 December 2024.
Judge Made Similar Comment in Another Case
This is not the first time Justice Sanjay Kumar Singh has made such comments. In January 2025, he gave bail in another rape case where the man was accused of rape, criminal intimidation, and breach of trust. In that case too, the judge made a controversial observation.
He said,
“No doubt in the matter of rape, the statement of the prosecutrix should be given primary consideration, but at the same time, it should also be kept in mind that nowadays there can be no presumption that in all the matters, prosecutrix would always tell the entire story truthfully.”
In this case, the woman said that the accused raped her many times by giving false promises of marriage and a government job, and also cheated her financially.
But the judge observed,
“Allowed herself to be sexually misused by the applicant giving consent of the same”.
BACKGROUND OF THE CONTROVERSY
The Allahabad High Court earlier made a strong observation while giving bail to a man accused of rape. The Court said that the woman in this case had “invited trouble” herself and was also responsible for what happened.
The comment was made by Justice Sanjay Kumar Singh during the bail hearing of the accused who was arrested in December 2024 for allegedly raping a woman in Delhi’s Hauz Khas area.
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The Court observed,
“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.”
“It can also be concluded that she herself invited trouble and was also responsible for the same.”
:Justice Sanjay Kumar Singh
This case goes back to September 2024. A young woman, who is a student at a well-known university in Noida, had gone to a bar in Delhi with her three female friends. At the bar, she met some male acquaintances. One of them was the accused.
As per the woman’s complaint to the Noida Police, she drank alcohol at the bar and started feeling intoxicated. She said the accused began getting close to her and was constantly requesting her to come with him. She stayed at the bar till around 3 AM, and because of his repeated requests, she finally agreed to go with him to rest.
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She alleged that on the way, the accused kept touching her in an inappropriate way. Instead of taking her to his house in Noida, he took her to a relative’s flat in Gurgaon, where she said he raped her.
After this, the woman approached the police and filed a complaint. A First Information Report (FIR) was registered at a Noida police station, and the accused was later arrested on December 11, 2024.
During the bail hearing, the accused denied the rape allegations. He told the Court that the woman needed support, and she willingly agreed to go with him to his place to rest. He said that it was not rape, but consensual sex, and he did not take her to his relative’s flat as claimed.
The High Court said that the victim is a postgraduate student, so she is mature and capable enough to understand what she was doing.
The Court noted that she understood the “morality and significance of her act”, as per what she herself told the police.
After listening to both sides, the Court gave its verdict:
“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 accused was represented by Senior Advocate Vinay Saran and Advocate Balbir Singh.
CASE TITLE:
Nischal Chandak v. State of UP.
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