Guwahati HC grants bail to rape-accused IIT student for being ‘talented’

Bhubaneswar/Guwahati: A student of IIT Guwahati, accused of raping a fellow student, was granted bail by the Guwahati High Court on grounds of being a ‘future asset’ of the state.

Justice Ajit Borthakur, hearing the BTech student’s bail application said that there is a clear prima facie case against the petitioner based on evidence.

”However, as the investigation in the case is completed and both the informant/victim girl and the accused are the state’s future assets being talented students pursuing technical courses at the IIT, Guwahati,…continuation of detention of the accused…if charges are framed, may not be necessary,” read the order.

”A perusal of the list of witnesses too, cited in the charge-sheet, this Court finds no possibility of the accused tampering with their evidence or influencing them directly or indirectly, if released on bail,” it added.

The Guwahati HC granted bail to the accused of Rs 30,000 bond along with two sureties.

The court further said, ”It is pertinent to be mentioned that it is judicially well settled that while dealing with a bail application, the Court is not called upon to discuss the merits or demerits of the evidence available against the accused.

”…but some reasons for prima facie concluding while bail is being granted need to be indicated in brief.”

The accused had allegedly raped the girl on the night of March 28 earlier this year. She was rescued the next day and was admitted to a hospital. The accused was subsequently arrested five days later on April 3.

On the night of March 28, the accused had allegedly raped the girl, who was rescued the next day and admitted to the hospital. The accused was arrested on April 3.