Mumbai Court Rejects Rape Accused's Plea to Reopen Pan Shop Near Survivor's Home
A Mumbai sessions court on Friday rejected a plea by a 51-year-old pan shop owner, accused of repeatedly raping a woman with an intellectual disability, seeking relaxation of his bail conditions so he could reopen his shop located near her residence.
Judge Ashwini V Kasture held that an accused person's right to earn a livelihood cannot supersede the need to protect a rape survivor from continuous physical proximity to the alleged perpetrator.
The 51-year-old accused faces allegations of repeatedly raping the 24-year-old survivor and getting her pregnant. Facing charges that carry a maximum sentence of life imprisonment, the man was arrested in April 2025 and granted bail three months later.
His bail was granted subject to the specific condition that, during the pendency of the trial, he would not enter the vicinity where the victim resides until the final decision of the case.
The court observed that the existence of judicial powers to modify bail conditions does not mean they should be relaxed simply because an accused finds them inconvenient or financially burdensome.
Judge Kasture stated that the applicant was not merely seeking to pass through the locality for an unavoidable purpose, but was seeking permission to open and conduct his pan shop at or near the entrance of the very building in which the victim resides. Permitting this, the court ruled, would substantially nullify the object and purpose of the condition imposed while granting bail.
The sessions court also dismissed arguments that the filing of the chargesheet and the recording of the victim's statement had eliminated the need for maintaining the restriction.
