The Delhi High Court has recently denied bail to four people, including a woman, who had allegedly defiled the statue of 'Baba Sahab' Bhim Rao Ambedkar on the occasion of Independence Day.
Justice Manoj Kumar Ohri dismissed the bail pleas filed by the three men and one woman accused of defiling the statue BR Ambedkar.
"The ingredients of offence under section 3(1)(r) of the SC/ST Act [earlier Section 3(1)(x) of the SC/ST Act] are intentional insult or intimidation with intent to humiliate a member of a Scheduled Caste or a Scheduled Tribe and the incident ought to have occurred in 'public view', " the court noted.
The prosecution told the court that the victims had gone to the place of incident to hoist the national flag on the occasion of Independence Day. "However, the accused prevented the victims from hoisting the flag, outraged the modesty of certain women, hurled caste-specific abuses, defiled the statue of Baba Sahab Shri Bhim Rao Ambedkar installed in the plot and caused injuries to the victims," the prosecution said.
The alleged incident is further stated to have occurred in a place that was open to public view, where members of the public were also present.
"Keeping in view the aforesaid, I found no ground to admit the applicants on bail. The bail applications are accordingly dismissed as not maintainable, " the court said.
Four people moved bail applications under section 438 Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC) on behalf of the applicants seeking anticipatory bail in FIR registered under sections 3(I)(II)(III) and 3(1)(x) of the SC/ST Act and Sections 323/341/354/509/147/148/34 Indian Penal Code (IPC) at Police Station Govind Puri, Delhi.
The prosecution has alleged that accused piled up cow dung and garbage near the statue of BR Ambedkar, as a result of which Section 3(1)(t) of the SC/ST Act is also attracted in the present case.
The prosecution submitted that after the incident, the crime team reached the spot and photographed the place of the incident, "where it is clearly visible that cow dung and garbage were piled up near the statute of Baba Sahab Shri Bhim Rao Ambedkar."
The prosecution further submitted that during the investigation, the investigating officer (IO) also came across a video clip, which has captured the incident.
"By the said footage, the version of the victims is stated to have been corroborated and the presence of all the four accused persons at the spot recorded," the court said.
The prosecution further informed that the investigation is still pending.
( With inputs from ANI )
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