The Supreme Court today sought the response of Uttar Pradesh Police on a plea by former minister Gayatri Prasad Prajapati seeking bail in connection with an alleged gangrape case in which he is one of the accused. A bench comprising Justices A K Sikri and Ashok Bhushan issued notice to the police on Prajapati's petition challenging the Allahabad High Court's December last year's order dismissing his plea seeking bail in the case. The apex court fixed the matter for hearing on March 16. Prajapati was sacked as a minister by then Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav from his cabinet in 2016 during a family feud with his father Mulayam Singh Yadav and uncle Shivpal Yadav. He was later reinstated in the council of ministers in Uttar Pradesh. An FIR was lodged in the matter at Gautampalli police station in Lucknow after the Supreme Court last year rebuked the state police during the then Samajwadi Party regime for not registering the case. A Chitrakoot-based woman had accused the former minister and his accomplices of rape.
She had also alleged that he had also attempted to rape her minor daughter. In his plea filed before the apex court, Prajapati has claimed that allegations levelled against him in the case were false and baseless and he should be granted bail since charge sheet has already been filed. He has said that after the charge sheet was filed before the trial court, he had applied for bail which was rejected, following which he had approached the high court. The apex court had in February last year directed the Uttar Pradesh Police to lodge an FIR against Prajapati and others in connection with the case of alleged gangrape. The order had come on a plea of the woman who had alleged repeated gangrape by Prajapati and others and sought the court's direction for lodging of an FIR. She had claimed that the alleged incident had first taken place in October 2014 and continued till July 2016 and when the accused tried to molest her minor daughter, she decided to lodge a complaint.
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