Delhi High Court: Suspended Senior IAS member Jitendra Narain gets transit anticipatory bail & protection from arrest in Rape case
Jitendra Narain is accused of raping a woman, during his tenure as a Chief Secretary of Andaman and Nicobar Islands
Justice Yogesh Khanna of the Delhi High Court on Thursday granted former chief secretary of Andaman and Nicobar Islands and suspended Senior IAS member, Jitendra Narain transit bail for his involvement in an alleged rape case.
The court was hearing a transit bail application filed by Narain. The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) had recently suspended him over the allegations of sexual assault.
While granting the transit anticipatory bail, Justice Khanna protected Narain from arrest till October 28 and allowed him to avail legal remedy at the Port Blair Court.
“Considering the submissions and without giving any opinion on merits, I deem it appropriate to allow the petition to avail his legal remedy to approach the Court at Port Blair till 28.10.2022 and is protected only till that date. This order of protection from arrest shall automatically be vacated on 29.10.2022,” the court ordered.
Senior Advocate Vikas Pahwa for Narain contended that while being posted as Chief Secretary of Andaman and Nicobar Islands, he attempted to bring various reforms in the administration and incurred wrath and enmity of individuals both in administration and in private circles. Pahwa also claimed that the prosecutrix filed her first complaint on August 22, 2022, alleging that she was sexually exploited on April 14, 2022, and May 1, 2022, when she was called up by Narain at his residence at around 9 pm and stayed there until 11 pm, and that Narain, along with another official named Rishi, raped her.
Pahwa argued that Narain was not in Andaman and Nicobar Island from April 14, 2022, to April 18, 2022, and was in Delhi, and there was sufficient evidence for the same. He further argued that the complaint filed is “motivated” as it is filed by the daughter-in-law of an official to whom he had given a minor penalty and thereafter was ultimately removed from service. Furthermore, Pahwa contended that when the prosecutrix was recorded again she expanded the days of incidents, thus, he argued that Narain being “falsely implicated” in the case cannot be ruled out.
On the contrary, the Additional Standing Counsel (ASC) for the State argued that “looking at the gravity of the offence” bail should not be granted. He also stated that there is sufficient evidence against Narain based on the prosecutrix’s statement, which is “corroborated by the statements of the protected witnesses”.
Taking note of the submissions, the Court observed that the ASC for the State did not deny the facts stated by Pahwa. However, the court opined that without going into the allegations and counter-allegations at this stage may prejudice the case of either party.
The single-judge bench further observed as Narain is only asking for protection to avail legal remedy before the Court of Circuit Bench at Andaman and Nicobar Islands at Port Blair, which is functional till October 28, 2022. Accordingly, the court granted Narain transit bail in the case.
Case Title: Jitendra Narain v. State (GNCT of Delhi) & Anr.