SC slams Punjab govt, MLA for cases against rape complainant

ACCEPTING THIS PLEA, THE BENCH STAYED ALL PROCEEDINGS AGAINST THE WOMEN AND HER FAMILY MEMBERS FOR TWO WEEKS.

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Thursday pulled up the Punjab government and Lok Insaaf party MLA Simarjeet Singh Bains over registration of four criminal cases against a woman and her family members after she got a rape case lodged against the legislator.

A bench, headed by chief justice of India NV Ramana, questioned Bains’ conduct in reportedly using his influence as an MLA, as it demanded a report from the state government on how the criminal cases were lodged against the complainant and her family members after the rape case was registered.

The bench, which also comprised justices AS Bopanna and Hima Kohli, was hearing a petition by Bains seeking protection from arrest in the alleged rape case. “Have you seen the conduct of your client? He is a two-time MLA and this is the way he behaves? He is a public servant and he starts registering cases against the lady,” the bench asked senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi, who appeared for Bains.

The court then called upon the Punjab government’s advocate general, D S Patwalia. “What is happening in your state? How many cases has he (Bains) filed against the lady? He wants to keep on filing cases and you register everything. As a state, you cannot be a party to this kind of misuse of police machinery,” it said.

Patwalia, on his part, said that there were proceedings initiated against Bains but some of them have been stayed by subordinate courts. The bench, however, asked Patwalia to gather all relevant information on how four cases came to be filed against the complainant and her family members and file a detailed affidavit. At this point, Rohatgi submitted that his client had nothing to do with the registration of cases against the complainant. “She ran a fake job racket and those who were duped got these cases registered. I have nothing to do with it,” Rohatgi argued on behalf of Bains.

Advocate Gagan Gupta, who represented the complainant against Bains, requested the court to stay the proceedings in the criminal cases till the state government comes clear on the issues raised. Accepting this plea, the bench stayed all proceedings against the women and her family members for two weeks. On Bains, the court decided to wait for a detailed affidavit from the state government and extended protection from arrest to the MLA for another week.