HC summons trial court’s records in Nagar rape case appeal

JAIPUR: Rajasthan High Court has summoned the records of the trial court which acquitted former Congress minister Babulal Nagar in a rape case. The court action follows the CBI which investigated the case appealed against the acquittal in the high court.

The CBI in its appeal said that the victim's statement and medical evidence corroborated the charge that the victim was sexually assaulted by the former minister. In case of rape, this is the most important factor the court had to go by but it was ignored. Similarly, the DNA test also confirmed the fact that the victim has been sexually assaulted by the accused, said counsel for CBI Ashwani Kumar Sharma.

When asked for the delay by the CBI in filing the appeal he said, "As per the Supreme Court directive in the Vineet Narayan case, the investigation agency had to follow the CBI manual which is time consuming process," he said.

Former minister Babulal Nagar was on January 31 acquitted by a local court of the charge of raping a married woman on the pretext of providing her a government job after prosecution failed to prove the case against him beyond reasonable doubts.

Additional district judge Prahlad Rai Sharma let off Nagar by giving him the benefit of doubt as the court said the prosecution failed to prove the case against him beyond reasonable doubts.

Nagar, who was Dairy, Khadi and Rural industries in the erstwhile Congress government, was accused of inviting the victim to his official residence in Jaipur on the promise of getting her a government job. Later, the woman lodged a complaint at Sodala police station alleging that Nagar had raped her and threatened of dire consequences if she reported the matter.

She approached the court, after the local police allegedly tried to hush up the matter. An FIR was registered against Nagar on the court's direction, and he was booked for allegedly raping and beating the woman. The CBI which took over the investigation form CID (CB) investigated the case and arrested Nagar on October, 25, 2013. Since then he was in jail till his acquittal.