Was convicted for attacking girlfriend
Was convicted for attacking girlfriend
Granting relief to film professional Jerrit John, who had been convicted by a sessions court for throwing chemical on his former girlfriend and international cyclist Aryanka Hosbetkar, the Bombay high court on Monday ordered his release on bail.
Justice Abhay M. Thipsay has granted him bail on condition for furnishing surety of '25,000 and to appear before the Dadar police station — where a case against him is registered — once in a week. He has also been asked not to contact the victim or her family and violation of any condition imposed by the court could lead to cancellation of his bail.
John was charged for attempt to murder but in October last year the sessions judge Vrushali Joshi had convicted him of causing grievous hurt by means of a corrosive substance, under section 326, for wrongful confinement under section 342 and for house trespass after preparation for hurt, assault or wrongful restraint under section 452 of the IPC.
However, advocate Amin Solkar while seeking his bail argued before the court that having discarded the theory that the applicant committed an offence of attempt to murder, it was necessary for the judge to have come to a conclusion that the injury sustained by the victim was ‘grievous hurt’ to hold him guilty under section 326 of IPC. According to him, though, the judge came to a conclusion but the medical evidence does not support the same.
The defence also argued that the prosecution theory was that the victim was assaulted by throwing acid on her face, but the evidence did not indicate that the substance thrown on the victim was acid, “and that, at any rate, no injury which could be termed as ‘grievous hurt’ had been caused to the victim,” he further argued.
The court was informed that John has already spent more than three years in prison and the victim now stays in US and hence there is no likelihood of applicant coming in contact with her.
Though the public prosecution opposed the bail plea, Justice Thipsay observed that there was no scarring of the skin as per medical evidence. “There are arguable points about the nature of injuries that were caused to the victim; and whether they, or any of them, would qualify as ‘grievous hurt’ as indicated in section 320 of the IPC, would need serious consideration,” observed the judge. The judge said that since the appeal cannot be taken up for final hearing immediately, it would be proper in the circumstances, to allow the application. John was convicted for hurling chemical on his former girlfriend on November 10, 2012.
