Delhi Court grants bail to man accused of pronouncing talaq and committing gang rape on his wife

A Delhi Court on Wednesday granted bail to a man accused of committing gang rape on his wife and pronouncing talaq in contravention of Section 4 of the Muslim Woman (Protection of Rights on Marriage) Act, 2019 (State v. Tanveer).Additional Sessions Judge Devender Kumar found that the accused had a strong defence, and that all disputed facts would have to be clarified through investigation..The dispute allegedly arose when the accused divorced the complainant as per Section 4 of the Act and committed rape upon his wife and allowed his friend, one Naseem, to commit a similar act..However, the accused denied all allegations stating that he had neither divorced his wife and nor committed rape. It was submitted that since the complainant was aware of the innocence of the accused, she concocted a story of gang rape just to get him booked under a false case.It was in fact brought to the Court’s attention that both Naseem and the accused were in different locations at the time of the alleged incident..On the other hand, the Additional Public Prosecutor strongly opposed the bail plea, stating that the allegations were serious in nature. It was further submitted that the Investigating Officer (IO) was not cooperating with the complainant, but was regularly in touch with the accused and his family.The IO verified to the Court that the co-accused Naseem had a personal clash with the counsel for the complainant wife, who had previously filed several cases against Naseem..While allowing the bail application, the judge also observed that the complainant had been visiting the house of the accused despite serious allegations, which raised suspicion.“It is pertinent to mention here that the complainant has been visiting the house of the accused despite the allegations of gang rape against her husband and she has tendered any plausible explanation to it.”Bail was granted subject to the following conditions:- Accused shall join investigation as and directed by the IO and shall not try to influence witnesses in any manner and shall have no contact with any witness or complainant, directly or indirectly.- He shall not leave Delhi without the permission of this court, provided he is permanent resident of Delhi.- Accused shall share his mobile number and location with IO so that he may be contacted in any exigency..Advocate Pradeep Teotia appeared for the Applicant; the Complainant was represented by Advocate Nizamuddin. Additional Public prosecutor R. K. Satyarthi appeared for the State..[Read Order Here]