Anand Dutta one of the six convicted in the Kathua rape case of 2018 has been granted bail by Punjab & Haryana High Court, Bar and Bench reported.
A Bench of Justices Tejinder Singh Dhindsa and Vinod S Bhardwaj suspended the remaining sentence of Dutta, and ordered that he be released on bail on furnishing personal/ surety bonds.
“Prayer made in the instant application is accepted and the remaining sentence of the applicant/appellant-Anand Dutta is suspended during the pendency of the appeal. The applicant/appellant-Anand Dutta is ordered to be released on bail on his furnishing personal/surety bonds to the satisfaction of Chief Judicial Magistrate/Duty Magistrate concerned,” the order said.
The case dates back to January 2018 when an 8-year-old girl from the nomadic Bakarwal community was gang-raped by a temple priest and others,in the Rasana village near Kathua in Jammu Kashmir.
Six of the seven accused in the case were convicted by Sessions Judge, Pathankot.
Dutta who was a sub-inspector with the police was the Station House Officer (SHO) when the incident took place.
He was convicted for offenses punishable under Sections 201 (causing disappearance of evidence of offence, or giving false information to screen offender) read with Sections 34 (acts done by several persons in furtherance of common intention) and 120-B (criminal conspiracy) of Ranbir Penal Code (RPC).
He was sentenced to 5 years imprisonment.