Supreme Court cancels bail of accused in Patna care home sexual exploitation case

The accused Vandana Gupta was asked to surrender within four weeks as the top court set aside the order of the Patna high court granting her bail on January 18, 2024

Terming the allegation as “grave”, the Supreme Court on Monday cancelled the bail granted to a Patna care home superintendent accused of supplying women inmates to influential people and allowing boys to enter the remand home.

The woman was in-charge of the women’s protection home where she was required to work as a “protector of the inmates”. (Representative file photo)

The accused Vandana Gupta was asked to surrender within four weeks as the top court set aside the order of the Patna high court granting her bail on January 18, 2024. She was the superintendent of Gai Ghaat remand home at Patna where inmates were sexually exploited. Soon after getting bail, she was made the superintendent of another care home.

The order passed by a bench of justices Vikram Nath and Sandeep Mehta said, “It is trite that bail once granted should not be cancelled ordinarily, but where the facts are so grave that they shake the conscience of the Court; and where the release of the accused on bail would have an adverse impact on the society, the courts are not powerless and are expected to exercise jurisdiction conferred by law to cancel such bail orders so as to subserve the ends of justice. The present one is precisely a case of such nature.”

The order of the court came on a petition filed by the victim who questioned the order of the HC which failed to give any reasons while letting out the accused woman facing such serious charges.

The court observed that Gupta was the officer in-charge of the women’s protection home where she was required to work as a “protector of the inmates”, but she turned rogue and indulged in sexual exploitation of the helpless and destitute women who had been placed under her protection in an institution meant to provide them safety and security.

“It is clearly a case, wherein the person put in the role of a saviour has turned into a devil,” the court said, holding that the allegations against her were both “grave” and “reprehensible”. In addition, the court said, “Releasing respondent No. 2 (Gupta) on bail is bound to have an adverse effect on trial because there would be an imminent possibility of the witnesses being threatened.”

The court termed the present case to be an “exceptional” case where grant of bail has resulted into “travesty of justice”. Grant of bail to the person accused of such grave offences without assigning reasons shakes the conscience of the court and would have an adverse impact on the society, the court said.

The victim who approached the court belonged to the Scheduled Caste community and a case under SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocites) Act was charged against the accused. In such circumstances, while dealing with bail, the high court was required to hear the victim under section 15A(3) of the Act, which was not followed in the present case.

The top court said, “The order (of HC) could have been quashed on the solitary ground of non-compliance of Section 15A(3) of the SC/ST Act which mandates that notice to a victim is essential before a prayer for bail is being considered, in a case where the offence/s under the SC/ST Act have been applied.”

The court further directed the concerned trial court and the district administration to provide proper protection and support to the victims of the case.

The case against Gupta came to light after two victims escaped out of the Uttar Raksha Grih, Gai Ghaat, Patna and complained against Gupta. The victim who approached the top court revealed that she was administered intoxicating medicines and injections by Gupta. This was done to other female inmates too. They were subjected to sexual exploitation and mental torture as Gupta would send them outside to influential people in the name of job where they would be sexually assaulted. The victims further complained that Gupta allowed males to enter the home and sexually exploit the victims.

Looking into these allegations, the Patna high court took suo motu cognisance of the matter in February this year and directed the police to form a special investigation team (SIT) that is presently handling the case.