Guwahati: Don Bosco University vice chancellor Stephen Mavely gets bail in 'abetment to suicide' case

GUWAHATI: Assam Don Bosco University vice-chancellor Father Stephen Mavely, 72, who was remanded in two-day police custody by a lower court here in Guwahati on Wednesday in connection with a case of "abetment to suicide", was granted bail by Gauhati High Court on Thursday observing that "there is nothing on record, till now, regarding any blemish on his part".
The court of Justice Sanjay Kumar Medhi, while granting the bail to Mavely, said: "In the instant case, the petitioner is a vice-chancellor of a prestigious educational institution and there is nothing on record, till now, regarding any blemish on his part."
Senior advocate Angshuman Bora, who argued for the petitioner, said, "The court took note of his age, as he is a senior citizen, and his standing in society as a vice-chancellor. Considering all the aspects of the case, the court granted bail to Mavely in spite of objections raised by the informant."
Mavely was arrested on Tuesday based on an FIR lodged by Patrick Bordoloi, who alleged that his father, George Bordoloi, who is the proprietor of the George's Retreat Eco Camp at Sonapur, died by suicide in the on Monday morning leaving a purported suicide note where he held the Father responsible for abetting his suicide.
The court stated that "grant of bail in exercise of powers vested by the CrPC is a matter of discretion which needs to be exercised by considering all the attending facts and circumstances".
The court though took note of the petitioner's senior citizen status and his standing as a vice-chancellor of a university stated that the same "may not absolve him from any criminal liability".
The prima facie view of the court is that "the allegations of instigations have to be direct and the test to be applied is that of a reasonable mind".