The Court noted that arrest and custodial investigation of the accused are crucial for a meaningful investigation and for establishing the alleged charges.
Therefore, even when custodial interrogation is not necessary, its absence alone would not be a sufficient ground for granting anticipatory bail.
The Court also referred to the Supreme Court decision in Sumitha Pradeep v. Arum Kumar CK & Anr and stated that,
“The first and foremost thing that the court hearing an anticipatory bail application should consider is the prima facie case put up against the accused. Thereafter, the nature of the offence should be looked into along with the severity of the punishment. Custodial interrogation can be one of the grounds to decline anticipatory bail. However, even if custodial interrogation is not required or necessitated, by itself, cannot be a ground to grant anticipatory bail.“
The Court noted that the victim suffered severe trauma, which had negatively affected her studies and therefore, there were sufficient reasons to deny pre-arrest bail.
Hence, it dismissed the plea.
Source: Barandbench
