The Patna high court granted on Wednesday interim relief to Indian Police Service (IPS) officer Pushkar Anand in a sexual exploitation case.
A deputy superintendent of police (DSP) serving under him in Bhabua had alleged that the IPS officer had sexually exploited her on the promise of marriage, following which the state government had instituted an inquiry, which upheld her version.
The officer was asked to appear in the Bhabua court, where a case is pending against him.
The high court bench of justice Samrendra Pratap Singh in his order has called for a copy of the case diary before July 7. Justice Singh said that “in the meantime no coercive action will be taken against the petitioner”.
“It goes without saying that the petitioner will cooperate with the investigation and will not misuse the privilege of interim relief”, the high court directed in the order.
The first additional district and sessions judge, Bhabua, DN Singh, had rejected the anticipatory bail application of Anand on May 5 and the trial court of sub divisional judicial magistrate Avinash Kumar had issued a warrant of arrest against the officer.
The officer, presently posted as commandant of Mounted Military Police at Ara in Bhojpur, had filed a criminal miscellaneous petition before the high court against the district court’s bail rejection order.
{{/usCountry}}The officer, presently posted as commandant of Mounted Military Police at Ara in Bhojpur, had filed a criminal miscellaneous petition before the high court against the district court’s bail rejection order.
{{/usCountry}}The victim, a Bihar police service officer, had lodged a criminal case at the women’s police station in December 2014 alleging that she had been sexually exploited on the promise of marriage by Anand and the then SP Kaimur district, under whom she was working. The case, later, was handed over to the CID.
The woman officer had also lodged a complaint with the police headquarters. A four member departmental probe committee comprising of IG Anupama Nilekar, SP-level officers Rajesh Kumar and Harpreet Kaur and a woman member of an NGO had found the allegations to be true. They had also recommended departmental action against Anand in its report submitted in February 2015.
Anand had moved for anticipatory bail after police headquarters issued orders for his arrest.