The Additional District and Sessions Court I in Kottayam on Friday granted bail on conditions to Bishop Franco Mulakkal, former head of the Latin Catholic Diocese of Jalandhar and an accused in the nun rape case.
The court posted the case to August 13 for framing the charge sheet. It further laid down the condition that the accused should not leave the State till the next posting and to be compulsorily present in the court on all the posting dates. The bail was granted upon the execution of two fresh bonds.
Meanwhile, special public prosecutor Jithesh J. Babu submitted that the accused had not produced a certificate testing him negative for SARS-CoV-2. For this, the court noted that the Health Department would take care of the matter.
Prior to Friday, the Bishop had appeared before the court here for the last time on November 30, 2019, to secure an extension for his bail. When the case was considered on June 10 this year, the court issued a strict direction to the accused for appearing in person on July 1 as he had failed to appear for more than 10 occasions.
The Bishop, however, failed to turn up once again citing that his residence in Jalandhar was in a containment zone of the COVID-19 pandemic. Following this, the court issued a non-bailable arrest warrant against him.
Earlier on March 16, the court had dismissed a discharge petition filed by the accused and posted the case for commencing trial proceedings. Though the court had posted the case on May 6 and May 19, it could not consider the case due to the pandemic-induced lockdown.
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