The Supreme Court today refused to grant anticipatory bail to two of the four accused priests in the Kerala Church Sex Scandal..The Bench of Justices AK Sikri and Ashok Bhushan, while declining to grant anticipatory bail, directed the accused to surrender by August 13 and seek regular bail..The trial court is ordered to take up the bail application on the same day that it is applied for..During the course of the hearing, one of the victims, represented by Advocates Vishnu Sankar and Boby Augstine, filed an IA in the case and told the Court that the accused priest had used a video to blackmail the victims to keep them from co-operating in the investigation..The Court was told that this video, which contained disparaging remarks against the victims, was uploaded on social media during the course of the investigation and was used as a safe tool to blackmail the victims..Senior Advocate V Giri, appearing for the State of Kerala, said,.“If true, this is a very grave and serious issue.”.The Court directed the victim to raise this issue before the trial court..While dictating the order, Justice Sikri also remarked,.“This is not a fit case for anticipatory bail.”.The accused Priests were represented by Senior Advocate R Basant, Bechu Kurian, Thomas P Joseph, and A Karthik..The Kerala Church Sex Scandal case is an appeal against a Kerala High Court order which had denied anticipatory bail to the accused..The accused priests, belonging to the Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church, have been accused of offences punishable under Sections 376, 354, 354A, 506(i) of the Indian Penal Code..The husband of the victim had approached the Bishop of the Marthomma Church and submitted a complaint wherein allegations of gross sexual impropriety were alleged against a number of priests of the Church.
The Supreme Court today refused to grant anticipatory bail to two of the four accused priests in the Kerala Church Sex Scandal..The Bench of Justices AK Sikri and Ashok Bhushan, while declining to grant anticipatory bail, directed the accused to surrender by August 13 and seek regular bail..The trial court is ordered to take up the bail application on the same day that it is applied for..During the course of the hearing, one of the victims, represented by Advocates Vishnu Sankar and Boby Augstine, filed an IA in the case and told the Court that the accused priest had used a video to blackmail the victims to keep them from co-operating in the investigation..The Court was told that this video, which contained disparaging remarks against the victims, was uploaded on social media during the course of the investigation and was used as a safe tool to blackmail the victims..Senior Advocate V Giri, appearing for the State of Kerala, said,.“If true, this is a very grave and serious issue.”.The Court directed the victim to raise this issue before the trial court..While dictating the order, Justice Sikri also remarked,.“This is not a fit case for anticipatory bail.”.The accused Priests were represented by Senior Advocate R Basant, Bechu Kurian, Thomas P Joseph, and A Karthik..The Kerala Church Sex Scandal case is an appeal against a Kerala High Court order which had denied anticipatory bail to the accused..The accused priests, belonging to the Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church, have been accused of offences punishable under Sections 376, 354, 354A, 506(i) of the Indian Penal Code..The husband of the victim had approached the Bishop of the Marthomma Church and submitted a complaint wherein allegations of gross sexual impropriety were alleged against a number of priests of the Church.
