Gauhati HC rejects anticipatory bail plea of IYC chief Srinivas

GUWAHATI: The Gauhati high court has rejected the anticipatory bail plea of Indian Youth Congress chief, Srinivas BV, which was filed after the now expelled Assam youth Congress president, Angkita Dutta, lodged an FIR against him alleging harassment.
Dismissing the plea on Thursday, Justice Ajit Borthakur said, “It is not a fit case to grant the privilege of pre-arrest bail to the petitioner. Accordingly, the pre-arrest bail application of the petitioner stands rejected.”
The investigation is in its nascent stage, he added.
In the FIR registered on April 20, Dutta alleged that Srinivas (the petitioner) had harassed her mentally by way of sexist and slang words and also threatened her with dire consequences if she complained about the same to the high office-bearers of the youth Congress. She alleged that Srinivas heckled her during her visit to Raipur in Chhattishgarh to attend the plenary session of the Congress in February. She said despite complaining about Srinivas’s conduct to the office-bearers of the party on several occasions, her complaints did not yield any result and so she lodged the FIR.
Following this, Srinivas was summoned by Assam Police which asked him to appear before the investigating officer on Tuesday last. But he moved the anticipatory bail petition before the court.
Srinivas’s counsel, senior advocate KN Choudhury, contended that the allegations levelled against Srinivas were completely false and mala fide. He argued that the FIR was lodged with an ulterior motive to malign the petitioner and to avoid any litigation for making defamatory statements against Srinivas on social media.
Choudhury further submitted that for the defamatory and scandalous remarks made by Dutta on social media, the legal cell of the Indian Youth Congress sent a legal notice of defamation on April 18 and sought immediate public apology. Following this, she lodged the FIR, which was clearly an afterthought, he said.
However, opposing the pre-arrest bail application, public prosecutor M Phukan submitted before the court that Srinivas had filed two pre-arrest bail applications before the learned sessions court in Bangalore, Karnataka and both the said petitions have been rejected after appreciating the materials on the case diary.