Relief: 54 year old AIIMS doctor accused of raping colleague granted anticipatory bail

New Delhi: A court here on Saturday granted anticipatory bail to a 54-year-old doctor of All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) accused of raping a colleague on the pretext of marriage.

Additional Sessions Judge Ravindra Kumar Pandey granted pre-arrest bail to the male doctor, a professor of neurosurgery, against whom Delhi Police had registered a case under penal provisions of rape, unnatural offences, causing miscarriage without woman’s consent, and criminal intimidation.

The judge noted that after the completion of the investigation, a chargesheet was filed against the doctor who was never arrested. According to the Investigating Officer (IO), the accused’s custodial interrogation was not required, he noted.

“The accused has claimed that the FIR and complaint were lodged due to a matrimonial dispute between the complainant and accused. On the other hand, the complainant claimed that the offence against the complainant was committed on the pretext of false marriage,” the court said.

“It is a matter of trial as to whether both the parties were married to each other, which is to be decided by the competent court having jurisdiction to decide the issue,” it added.

Considering the overall facts and circumstances of the case, the submissions before it, the fact that the chargesheet was filed without arrest, and the guidelines issued by the Supreme Court in a 2022 case, the court said the accused was entitled to anticipatory bail.

The court allowed the relief subject to the accused furnishing a bail bond and surety bond of Rs 25,000 each. Other conditions for bail included that the accused will not try to contact the complainant fellow doctor or witnesses, tamper with evidence, and regularly appear before the court.

Last month, a metropolitan magistrate’s court had summoned the accused doctor to appear on February 26, saying the evidence on record was “prima facie sufficient” to proceed with the case.

A week after the accused doctor was summoned, an organisation working for women’s rights demanded his suspension and arrest.

According to the FIR, the accused doctor performed a “sham marriage” with the complainant and also forced her to abort.

Original news source: https://www.ptinews.com/story/national/court-grants-anticipatory-bail-to-aiims-doctor-accused-of-raping-colleague/1298179