The Supreme Court has stayed a Rajasthan HC order that restricted a rape accused’s wife, employed in the US, from travelling abroad as “collateral” for his foreign trip. The bench also asked the accused to deposit Rs 2 lakh as surety.
New Delhi: On August 7, the Supreme Court has stopped a Rajasthan High Court order that had told a rape accused’s wife to stay in India as a kind of “collateral” if her husband wanted to travel abroad for work.
On Friday, a bench of Justices Sanjay Kumar and Satish Chandra Sharma issued notice to the Rajasthan government while hearing an appeal by a software engineer accused of raping a woman on the promise of marriage. The top court also directed the man to deposit Rs 2 lakh as surety for his foreign travel.
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Advocate Ashwani Dubey, who represented the engineer, argued that the wife was not involved in the case in any way.
He told the court,
“The wife, who is neither accused nor heard, is restrained from travelling abroad, purely to offset a hypothetical apprehension that the husband will abscond.”
According to the plea, the Rajasthan High Court had not issued any notice to the wife, who works in the US, before passing an order stopping her from travelling abroad.
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The plea said this was a “procedural impropriety” because she was not part of the criminal case and was never given a chance to present her side. It further argued that the high court’s direction was “erroneous” and violated the couple’s fundamental rights under Article 21 of the Constitution.
The petition also claimed that the order suffered from “procedural irregularity and legal perversity” as it was passed without hearing the person who was directly affected.
It stressed that the man is an Indian passport holder, an Indian citizen, and “will be under the control of Consulate General at USA” during his stay abroad.
It added that there were
“no chances of his absconding as he is willing to go abroad to earn his livelihood on work visa and therefore, there is no question of his absconding.”
The bench was informed that the petitioner would travel for a fixed time and was ready to give an oath that he would be present for the trial whenever required.
His plea said,
“There is no question of delay in trial and also there is no question of his absconding.”
The case dates back to when the Christianganj Police Station in Ajmer booked the man under rape charges. A woman alleged that she met him on a matrimonial website, and over four years, he maintained a close relationship with her on the “promise of marriage.”
Under Section 69 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS),
“sexual intercourse by employing deceitful means, etc.” includes making a “false promise of employment or promotion, inducement or marring after suppressing identity.”
After being booked, the man applied for anticipatory bail, which the court granted. Later, he requested the trial court to let him travel abroad for a job, but his request was rejected.
He then went to the high court, which allowed him to go abroad but added the condition that his wife must stay in India.
The Supreme Court’s intervention now means that this condition will not apply while the matter is being heard; however, the accused must deposit Rs 2 lakh before traveling.
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