A bench of the Rajasthan High Court, led by Justice Ashok Kumar Jain, granted bail to a 19-year-old college student accused of circulating sexually explicit material of a married 23-year-old woman over Instagram, along with blackmail and intimidation. The accused was alleged to have edited and published explicit content pertaining to the complainant, and further using that material to intimidate her and harm her reputation and marital life. The woman claimed that the accused had used multiple mobile phones and fake identities on social media platforms, particularly Instagram, to perpetrate these acts.
In deciding on the bail application, the Court noted several mitigating factors in favour of the accused. He had no prior criminal antecedents, was a second year college student, and the investigation had progressed to a stage where his custody was no longer required. During the hearing, the accused gave undertakings that he would not repeat the offence and that he would refrain from using social media platforms.
Despite these factors, the Court deemed it necessary to impose a stringent condition to ensure the victim's safety and to prevent further harm to her marital and social standing. Accordingly, bail was granted subject to the unique condition that the accused should not use any social media platforms for a period of three years in any manner, whether under his real name or any fictitious name.
The Court’s decision reflects a balancing of the rights of the accused (including the presumption of innocence, youthful status, lack of criminal history) with the need to protect the complainant from further harm, given the serious nature of the allegations. The bail order (“Akash v State of Rajasthan”) thus allowed the release of the accused under the condition of no social media access for three years.
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