Lucknow, Nov 21 (PTI) Justice Pankaj Bhatia of the Lucknow bench of High Court on Thursday recused himself from the second bail plea filed by Moeed Ahmed, Samajwadi Party (SP) leader and accused in Ayodhya gang rape case.
Justice Bhatia ordered the case to be listed before a regular bench next week after receiving orders from the Chief Justice.
Rejecting the previous bail petition, the court had said the accused is politically very powerful and there is a huge social and economic gap between him and the victim and her family.
Along with this, during the investigation, the victim and her family were also pressured for reconciliation. Hence, there is a danger of the trial being affected if the accused comes out of jail.
Along with this, the court had given the accused the liberty to file a fresh bail petition after the testimony of the victim and the complainant in the case.
The trial court was also ordered to complete the testimony of the victim and the complainant by hearing the case on a day-to-day basis.
It has been said in the new bail petition that the testimony of both of them has been completed. On this basis, the accused should now be released on bail, it has been said.
On July 29, Ayodhya district’s Purakalandar police had booked Khan and one Raju Khan for the alleged gang rape of a 12-year-old girl who lived around 500 metres from Khan’s now-demolished bakery. PTI COR ABN ABN KSS KSS
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