Supreme Court grants anticipatory bail to a school principal and two teachers, accused of forcing a 16-year-old girl to undergo a pregnancy test

In a recent order, the Supreme Court (SC) granted anticipatory bail to a school principal and two teachers who were accused of forcing a 16-year-old girl to undergo a pregnancy test. The bench granted relief after noting that a chargesheet had been filed in the case. The order reads, “Admittedly the charge-sheet has been filed and the appellants are not at flight risk. They are the principal and teachers of the school. In such view of the matter, the impugned order is set aside and the appellants are granted anticipatory bail, subject to the condition that the appellants shall cooperate with the further conduct of trial." The matter was heard by a two-judge bench of the SC consisting of Justice MM Sundresh and Justice Satish Chandra Sharma. 

The minor girl, in her complaint, alleged that she was defamed among the students and a rumor was spread about an affair between her and the school secretary. In this case, the accused were booked under various provisions of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act (POCSO Act), and the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act. On July 10, the Bombay High Court (HC) refused to grant anticipatory bail to the accused and said “It is her case that, for no reason, she was forced to undergo pregnancy test. She was defamed amongst the students and a rumor was spread that there was affair between the informant and the Secretary of the school. She was forced to take that extreme step of consuming poison because of the harassment.”

During the proceedings in the HC, the prosecution submitted that in February 2023, the victim and her friends complained to the Secretary of the school that they were getting improper meals at the school. The accused, in this case, asked the victim to make allegations against the secretary one day after the complaint made by the victim. She denied the same but the accused allegedly continued to put pressure on the victim. The harassment continued for months. The teachers threatened her that if she did not make a complaint against the secretary then she would not be granted good marks. The harassment continued to such an extreme level that the victim once consumed poison but was saved after taking her to a dispensary. Considering all these aspects, the HC denied to grant anticipatory bail to the accused and the matter was therefore mentioned before the Supreme Court.