New Delhi, Sep 22 (IANS): The Supreme Court on Monday stayed the Allahabad High Court order granting two months interim bail, on medical grounds, to former Uttar Pradesh minister Gayatri Prasad Prajapati in a gang-rape case.
A bench comprising Justices Ashok Bhushan, R. Subhash Reddy and M.R. Shah said: "Issue notice. In the meantime, the operation of the impugned order dated September 3, 2020, passed by the High Court shall remain stayed."
It has also sought response from Prajapati in the matter.
The Lucknow bench of the Allahabad High Court had granted interim bail to Prajapati, a minister in the erstwhile Samajwadi Party government. However, despite this bail, he continued to remain in judicial custody as a fresh case of fraud, forgery and criminal intimidation was also lodged against him.
Prajapati, along with others, have been accused of raping a woman and attempting to molest her minor daughter. The gang-rape case was registered at Gautampalli police station in 2017.
The bench took note of the plea filed by the Uttar Pradesh government, opposing the High Court order, and stayed the bail order.
The state government contended in the plea that the accused wielded considerable influence in the environs of powers, and his political position was very strong, as the FIR against him was registered only after the victim approached the top court.
In the appeal, the state government had contended that the High Court has erroneously granted a short-term bail of two months to the accused in a POCSO case solely on medical grounds. The state government argued that the High Court did not note that he was throughout being treated in premier national medical institutes KGMC/SG-PGI, and the regular hearing of the bail is scheduled for hearing on September 28.
Against the backdrop of the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic, the High Court had noted that the health of the accused was at risk. Since March 15, 2017, Prajapati has been in jail since and he is currently undergoing treatment for various ailments at the King George Medical University in Lucknow.