Jindal gang-rape: SC asks accused to share ICloud password

The Supreme Court on Wednesday told three former law students of O P Jindal Global University in Haryana to share password of their 'ICloud' account where they are claimed to have stored nude photographs of an MBA student.

The court told them to show their bona fide to remain on bail, saying it cannot accept and tolerate continuous blackmail.

In 2015, all the three were convicted and awarded varying jail terms for gang-rape and other offences.

However, the Punjab and Haryana High Court had on September 13 last year suspended their sentence by concluding that the girl's testimony offered an "alternate casual relationship with her friends, acquaintances, adventurism and experimentation in sexual encounters."

Hearing a plea by the victim against bail to the three accused, a bench of Justices S A Bobde and L Nageswara Rao told their counsel that they have to share the password and must give access to her to ensure that those photographs would never be circulated.

"Some of the photographs were unfortunately sent by the girl herself. We are not deciding the moral issue here. Somebody is released from jail. The complainant is before, it is troubling her that password is still with them. We are not going to relent on this aspect. You can't exercise this threat. You have to allay her apprehension and remove any fear or threat," the bench told senior advocates Shanti Bhushan, Mukul Rohatgi and Huzefa Ahmadi, representing the accused.

The counsel also submitted that the victim had herself sent those photographs to her friends. Rohatgi maintained that it was all consensual.

They also claimed the girl has now gone to Australia but the victim's advocate denied it saying she was very much here.

Senior advocate Colin Gonsalves, however, contended that this was not a case where the accused could be released on bail after admitting the appeal.

He urged the court to have a look at a WhatsApp chat to understand the "gut-wrenching" threats that they put her under to extract the objectionable photographs.

The counsel maintained that even if they shared the password, he would still like to argue the case on merit, challenging their release from jail.

"This is the big thing for you if you get the password. We can understand your feelings. We are objectively trying to ascertain your security. After all, they are kids and might have grown a moustache. We will decide later if such kind of crimes hurts society," the bench told Gonsalves.

The court put the matter for consideration on February 15.

The girl, now 20 years of age, had claimed Hardik Sikri, Vikas Garg and Karan Chhabra had blackmailed her on the basis of some nude photographs for one and half years and sexually assaulted her repeatedly.