Arresting person on mere allegations can destroy his reputation: Delhi High Court grants bail to rape accused

The Delhi High Court recently observed that arresting an individual merely on allegations has the potential to destroy their reputation, and it is therefore necessary to apply great care and circumspection while dealing with arrests at the pre-conviction stage (Radhye Shyam v State)..The observations came from Justice Subramonium Prasad as he granted anticipatory bail to a man accused of raping an employee working in his company’s human resources department. The man, named Radhye Shyam, allegedly even forced few other women in his company to have physical relations with him..Justice Prasad said that whether the accused had sexual intercourse with the complainant consensually or not will be dealt with by the trial court and it would refrain itself from commenting on the case’s merits.“This Court finds it pertinent to note that consequent arrest of an individual on the basis of mere allegations has the potential to destroy the reputation of the said individual. Therefore, it is necessary to apply great care and circumspection while dealing with arrest at a pre-conviction stage,” the Court said..The woman had joined the company, M/s Dabas Securities and Allied Services in June 2020. The allegation was that in November 2020, the accused allured her to meet him at a hotel and had forceful sexual intercourse with her. The man allegedly raped her again in December 2020. However, when he tried to do the same act again in January 2021 the complainant refused.The man then fired her from the company. However, she joined the job again after talking to the reporting manager who said that she too had been similarly harassed by the owner.As she joined, she was given a promotion and a raise. She later came to know that a receptionist at the company was also forced into having sexual relations with the man. As she narrated the incident to one of her colleagues he called the accused and told him to desist from exploiting his employees. The accused then got a First Information Report (FIR) registered against him for criminal intimidation..Appearing for Shyam, Senior Advocate Mohit Mathur, argued that the petitioner and the complainant were in an employer-employee relationship which later developed into a consensual physical relationship. He added that the woman had sexual relations with him on three different occasions and even travelled to Agra for a business trip where she stayed with him for three days. He further contended that if the complainant had been raped, she out to have lodged an FIR immediately but in the present case this was done nearly six months after the first alleged incident.Though the trial court had earlier dismissed the man’s bail application in July, the High Court now noted that two witnesses who were employees of the company have already left and therefore, the man is not in a position to influence them.“Further, mere apprehension of tampering with evidence or influencing the witnesses cannot be a ground for rejecting an application for anticipatory bail,” the Court said..Apart from Mathur, the petitioner was also represented by advocates Damanpreet Kohli, Manish Malhotra, Tarun Gaur and Harsh Gautam. The State was represented by Additional Public Prosecutor Meenakshi Chauhan..[Read Order]