State Of Rajasthan vs Bharat Bhushan Pareek & Ors

BHARAT BHUSHAN PAREEK & ORS. Respondent(s)

WITH

CRIMINAL APPEAL NO. 1769 OF 2011 (Arising out of SLP(Crl.) No.1846/2010) STATE OF RAJASTHAN Appellant(s)

:VERSUS:

BHARAT BHUSHAN PAREEK & ORS. Respondent(s)

AND

SPECIAL LEAVE PETITION (Crl.) No. 2332 /2011

BHOLU @ SURJEET YADAV Appellant(s) :VERSUS:

STATE OF RAJASTHAN

Respondent(s)

O R D E R

CRIMINAL APPEALS @ SLP(CRL) Nos.1840 & 1846 OF 2010:

1. Leave granted.

2. These appeals emanate from the judgment and

orders dated 15.12.2009 passed by the learned Single

Judge of the High Court of Judicature at Rajasthan

in S.B. Criminal Miscellaneous Petition Nos.595 of

2009 and 599 of 2009.

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3. This is a gang rape case. In the impugned

judgment the High court has observed that ample

opportunities were provided to the prosecution to

produce the witnesses but the same have not been

availed by the prosecution, on the contrary, the

Special Public Prosecutor remained absent on several

occasions and he appears to be not interested in

completion of the trial of this case.

4. In the impugned judgment the High Court was

justified in observing that the conduct of the

prosecution in the entire case has been

reprehensible. Ordinarily this Court would not have

interfered with the impugned judgment but for the

fact that this is a very serious crime of gang rape,

therefore, this unusual latitude is granted to the

State. Otherwise order-sheet of the Trial Court

clearly reveal the conduct of the prosecution in

this case.

5. All the accused, including Rajesh Chaudhary,

Harish Sihag and Narendra Sihag have already been

released on bail.

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6. In the facts and circumstances of this case,

looking to the conduct of the State in the entire

case, we direct the State of Rajasthan to pay Rs.2

lakhs as costs to the Rajasthan State Legal Services

Authority within four weeks from today.

7. The concerned District & Sessions Judge is

directed to conduct an inquiry as to why this matter

has been proceeded in this manner and take action

against erring officials/persons and submit a report

to this Court within four months from today.

8. Dr. Manish Singhvi, learned Additional

Advocate General appearing for the State of

Rajasthan submitted that accused Nos.1 to 7 have

already cross-examined the prosecutrix in this case.

Accused Nos.8 to 12 have not cross-examined the

prosecutrix.

9. Looking to the fact that this is a gang rape

case and in the larger interest of justice, we grant

one more opportunity to the State of Rajasthan to

lead evidence in this case including cross-

examination of the prosecutrix. Let the entire

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prosecution evidence be concluded positively on or

before 30th November, 2011.

10. We direct the parties to appear before the

Fast Track Court on 19th September, 2011.

11. The learned Presiding Judge of the Fast Track

Court shall proceed to conduct the trial of this

case on day-to-day basis and shall not grant

unnecessary adjournments either on behalf of the

State or any of the accused and conclude the trial

as expeditiously as possible, in any event, within

six months from the date of communication of this

order.

12. In view of the order passed above, the

impugned orders passed by the High Court are set

aside and the appeals are disposed of accordingly.

S.L.P.(CRL.) No. 2332 OF 2011:

13. The petitioner would be at liberty to move

the Trial Court for grant of bail. We request the

Trial Court to conclude the trial in this case also

as expeditiously as possible, in any event, within

six months from the date of communication of this

order.

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14. The special leave petition is dismissed with

the aforementioned observation.

.....................J (DALVEER BHANDARI)

.....................J (DEEPAK VERMA)

New Delhi;

September 9, 2011.