Delhi High Court grants bail to man accused of double murder, rape after DNA profiles don't match

The Delhi High Court on Friday granted bail to a man accused of a double-murder and rape, after noting that the DNA profile developed from the vaginal swab of a deceased did not match with the accused's profile (Jasbir Dabas@Jassu v State)..In his judgment, Justice Manoj Kumar Ohri observed that at this stage the case hinged only on the recovery of a mobile phone with the applicant, which belonged to the deceased girl. It added that the material witness has been examined and the man has been in custody for more than four years.“Without expressing any opinion on the merits of the above submissions, which require deeper appreciation during the trial, it is noted that as per Status Report dated 16.11.2020, a male DNA Profile was generated from the vaginal swab taken of deceased/R at the time of her post-mortem, but the same was not found consistent with the DNA Profile of the applicant. At this stage, it suffices to observe that the present case hinges only on the recovery of the mobile phone, stated to have belonged to deceased/R, at the instance of the present applicant. The material witness Bharti has been examined and discharged. The applicant has been in custody since 24.07.2017. Keeping in view the totality of the facts mentioned hereinabove, it is directed that the applicant be released on regular bail,” the Court said.The bail is subject to the accused furnishing a bond of ₹50,000 with surety of a like amount in each case. The Court also imposed several other conditions on him including prohibiting him from leaving Delhi without prior permission of the Court..The incident dates to February 2017 when bodies of a male and female were found at the Madanpur area. The deceased were identified as R and Arun. After initial investigation two people were arrested and their statements were recorded where they admitted to committing the offence after being informed about the deceased’s extra-marital affair.After the investigation was taken over by the Crime Branch, three more people including the applicant in this case, Jasbir were arrested based on secret information. The Court was informed that a dual-SIM mobile handset was discovered from Jasbir which was allegedly given to the deceased girl by her family. However, questions were raised about the IMEI number and other details..While advocates Pradeep Singh Rana, Abhishek Rana, Ankit Rana and Nitesh Pande appeared for the applicant, the state was represented by Additional Public Prosecutor Neelam Sharma..[Read Judgment]