Lagatar24 Desk
New Delhi, August 24: The former chief secretary of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Jitendra Narain, was charged with rape and the case was brought by a 21-year-old woman. The Supreme Court decided not to revoke Narain’s bail on Thursday.
The trial court was ordered to move the trial along quickly by a bench of Justices Vikram Nath and Ahsanuddin Amanulla and the parties were to cooperate.
“Further, we have provided that there was some apprehension expressed by the survivor. So we have directed the Union Territory administration to deal with any complaint made by her. We have also directed the trial court to expedite the trial and all parties to cooperate,” the bench stated in its order.
Narain, a suspended IAS officer from the AGMUT cadre, had been granted bail in February by the Calcutta High Court’s Port Blair circuit bench.
A Special Investigation Team (SIT) had looked into the claim that the woman had been raped by several persons, including Narain, after being persuaded to go to the Chief Secretary’s house with the prospect of a government position.
Narain was detained on November 10, 2022, following the filing of an FIR on October 1 when he was appointed chairman and managing director of the Delhi Financial Corporation. He was suspended on October 17.
In this case, the SIT submitted a 935-page charge sheet on February 3 of this year.
The prosecution has argued before the top court that there was no justification for giving bail to the former chief secretary when a prima facie case against him was established from the evidence on file. They have also claimed that evidence, including CCTV footage, was destroyed.
According to the prosecution attorney, the prosecutrix’s statement is sufficient to prove a rape case.
On the other hand, the defence attorney asserted that Narain was charged in an exaggerated, “strategically created” case.
The defence asserted that there were inconsistencies in the victim’s testimonies regarding the dates of the alleged incidents.
The charge sheet against Narain, businessman Sandeep Singh alias Rinku and suspended labour commissioner Rishishwarlal Rishi, according to the police, is supported by the statements of approximately 90 witnesses, forensic reports and electronic evidence.
Narain was charged with using his position improperly to destroy evidence at his official residence.
IPC sections 376 (punishment for rape), 376C (intercourse by superintendent of jail, remand home, etc.), 376D (intercourse by any member of management or staff of a hospital), 354 (assault or criminal force to woman with intent to outrage her modesty), 328 (causing hurt by means of poison, etc. with intent to commit an offence), and 201 (causing disappearance of evidence) have been used against the accused.
IPC sections 506 (criminal intimidation), 120B (criminal conspiracy), 500 (defamation) and 228A (disclosure of the identity of the victim of certain offences) were also listed in the charge sheet.
