Bihar gang-rape: Supreme Court says Araria Court's order remanding social workers to custody is impermissible in law, grants bail

The Supreme Court today ordered the immediate release of two social workers arrested on orders of the Araria District Court in Bihar while rendering help to a gang-rape survivor..Tanmay Nivedita and Kalyani Badola, members of NGO Jan Jagran Shakti Sangathan, were sent to custody on July 10 for their alleged misdemeanour while assisting and supporting a gang-rape survivor in court..The petitioners, who were represented by Advocate Vrinda Grover before the Supreme Court, highlighted before the Bench of Justices Arun Mishra, BR Gavai and Krishna Murari that the petition seeking bail was filed under "extraordinary circumstances due to COVID-19"..While issuing notice to the State of Bihar and directing the immediate release of the two social workers on a personal bond of Rs 10,000, the Court orally observed that "the order by which the petitioners were sent into custody was totally impermissible in law.".After the gang-rape, the survivor had taken the help of the two workers for raising a complaint. When her statement was being recorded under Section 164 of Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) before the magistrate, the survivor insisted that her statement be read out to her. After a heated exchange, the lower court ordered for the victim and the two workers to be taken into custody for "contempt of courts and disrupting court proceedings.".After public outrage at the incident, the plea states that the survivor was released on July 17. However, the "incarceration" of the two social workers still continued..Lawyers write to Patna High Court Chief Justice over treatment of gangrape survivor jailed by Bihar Court for alleged courtroom outburst.The writ petition challenging the decision of the Araria District Court was drafted by Advocates Ratna Appnender and Soutik Banerjee, and filed through Advocate on Record Liz Mathew..The plea states that the FIR against the victim and the social workers registered in Araria Mahila Thana is not maintainable in law, as there is a statutory bar against police investigating criminal contempt of court. It reads,."The inclusion of provisions from The Contempt of Courts Act, 1971, in the FIR reveal the non application of mind and arbitrary exercise of authority which unfortunately is writ large over the entire proceedings against the Petitioners. Further, in grave violation of Sec. 228A IPC, the rape survivor’s identifying details, including her father’s name and full address were made known to and reported by the local press, thereby breaching her fundamental right to dignity and privacy.".The petition further avers that the Judicial Magistrate (First Class) at Araria had "unfortunately, misconstrued the survivor's distraught, traumatized state of mind and perceived the same as a personal affront and remanded her and the Petitioners.".(Read Order).Follow Bar and Bench channel on WhatsAppDownload the Bar and Bench Mobile app for instant access to the latest legal news.