Fast Track Court Jammu grants bail in rape case
03/12/2025
JAMMU, Dec 2: In a notable order reaffi rming the principle that bail is a rule and jail an exception, Presiding Officer Amareet Singh Langah, of the Fast Track Court Jammu, granted bail to Ravinder Singh in the case arising from FIR No. 134/2024 involving allegations of Rape, extortion, and intimidation. The order was announced by the Presiding Officer after detailed hearings involving both sides. The court made it clear that observations in the order are limited to the bail determination and will not affect the trial on merits.
The bail plea was argued by Advocate A.K. Sawhney assisted by Tasina bukhari advocate, Kasif Malik Advocate ,Anil sharma,aasifa and khushboo advocatesfor the petitioner, who pointed to the nine-month delay in reporting the alleged incident. According to his submissions, the alleged act occurred on 15.01.2024 but the complainant approached the police only on 09.10.2024, and that too directly to the Additional Director General of Police rather than the local SHO or SSP. The defence maintained that this delay created reasonable doubt and weakened the prosecution narrative.
The State prosecution, represented by APP Ms. Rohini Manhas, opposed the bail application, citing seriousness of charges, alleged use of threatening photographs, and the presence of another earlier FIR against the accused. The prosecution asserted that the victim refused medical examination and that certain electronic evidence could not be recovered. However, the court held that these factors would be evaluated during trial and not at this interim stage.
Ultimately, while acknowledging the seriousness of the allegations, the court held that bail is a rule and jail an exception, and that continued custody was not justified at this stage. The Presiding Officer granted bail with conditions, including that:
#the accused shall not influence or threaten the complainant in any manner, and
@he shall not tamper with prosecution evidence.
In its concluding remarks, the court clarified that the observations made were solely for deciding the bail application and will not be considered during trial, which remains sub judice. The bail order was officially announced on December 2, 2025, and made part of the main case record.
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