Need for a Robust Mechanism to Impose Heavy Costs on Individuals Who End Up Wasting the Time of Investigating Agencies and Courts: Bombay High Court

In a recent judgment, the Bombay High Court (HC) highlighted the need for a robust mechanism to impose heavy costs on individuals who end up wasting the time of investigating agencies and courts. This was observed by the single-judge bench of the Bombay HC constituting Justice Manish Pitale while hearing a bail plea of a man accused of various offences including rape, extortion, and defamation. In this case, the applicant (Saket Abhitaj Jha) was arrested on November 02, 2023, for offences under Sections 376, 376(2)(n), 377, 384, 323, 504, 506, 500 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and Section 67 of the Information Technology Act, 2000 (IT Act). The FIR was registered on the grounds of statements made by the complainant on November 01, 2023. She stated that in October 2022, the applicant had forcibly made her drink alcohol and thereafter, he had a forcible physical relationship with her, allegedly taking her nude photographs and making videos. Moreover, the complainant also alleged that the same actions were repeated on November 28, 2022, thereafter he threatened her and took an amount of about Rs.75,000/-. Along with this, the complainant claimed that Jha posted her mobile number on social media platforms resulting in unknown persons contacting her and sending obscene messages. 

The Advocate appearing for the applicant, Advocate Jyotiram S Yadav, argued that Jha was in a relationship with the complainant, and due to a misunderstanding, the FIR was registered against him. He added, “the applicant has remained behind the bars since 2nd November 2023 and in the interregnum, the applicant and the respondent No.2 have resolved their differences, which is a factor this Court may take into consideration, although, charge-sheet has been filed on 28th November 2023.” After hearing the matter, the Bombay HC bench granted bail to Saket Abhitaj Jha, the accused, stating, “Looking to the serious allegations made against the applicant, this Court was reluctant to consider the present application favorably, as the learned APP correctly points out that in the face of such serious allegations and sufficient material to connect the applicant with such allegations, bail ought not to be granted. But, considering the said affidavit of the respondent No.2, which has been taken on record, this Court is inclined to allow the application…” The HC therefore disposed of the application. 

Furthermore, before parting with the present application, the Bombay HC bench noted, “...in urban areas like the city of Mumbai, very often such cases are before the Court where a relationship having gone wrong between two adult individuals, results in initiation of criminal proceedings. The valuable time of the Police which can be otherwise utilized in investigating serious offences, is wasted in carrying out investigations in such cases. With passage of time, the alleged victim and the accused come together, having resolved their differences and then the victim gives consent for grant of bail and even for quashing of such proceedings. This results in valuable time of the Court also being wasted.” It added, “This Court is of the opinion that in such cases a robust mechanism ought to be developed for imposing heavy costs on such individuals who end up wasting the time of the Investigating Authority as well as the Court.”