The Supreme Court on Friday (January 24, 2025) refused to grant bail to the wife of suspended Delhi government officer Premodaya Khakha. Khakha is accused of raping a minor multiple times and impregnating her.
Justice B. The bench of V. Nagarathna and Justice Satish Chandra Sharma allowed the petitioner to approach the lower court for bail after one year. Advocate Subhashish Soren, appearing for the accused, argued that the accused is in jail since August 2023 and charges have already been framed in the case.
Delhi Police’s lawyer opposed the grant of bail. However, the Supreme Court was not impressed by this and rejected the petition. On September 6, the Delhi High Court, while rejecting the bail plea of ​​Seema Rani Khakha, had said that this case represents an attack on the root of trust between two families and the possibility of influencing witnesses cannot be ruled out at this stage.
Premodaya Khakha is accused of raping the daughter of an acquaintance several times between November 2020 and January 2021. He is in judicial custody after his arrest in August 2023. Khakha’s wife Seema Rani allegedly gave medicines to the girl to cause an abortion. He is also in judicial custody.
The High Court had said that bail is the rule and jail is the exception, but courts must strike a balance, especially in cases of sexual assault of minors. The court had said, ‘In the present case, the victim went to live with the family of the accused after the death of her father. The victim used to call Premodaya Khakha as uncle.
According to the court, ‘the facts are of very serious nature. This strikes at the root of trust between the two families. The accused woman’s lawyer had argued that she was 50 years old and had been in custody for a year and the allegations made by the minor victim, including the allegation of pregnancy, were false.
The accused woman’s lawyer had said that a medical report showed that the main accused had earlier undergone sterilization and hence was incapable of reproducing. However, the court had said that the issue of pregnancy was not relevant at the bail stage and the accused woman should have protected the girl.
The court said, ‘We are not talking about pregnancy or abortion (at this stage). A girl comes to your house and you treat her like this…’ The two were arrested in August 2023 after the victim recorded her statement before a magistrate in the hospital. In this regard, a case was registered under the provisions of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offenses (POCSO) Act and the Indian Penal Code (IPC).
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