Simarjit Singh Bains denied bail in rape case

Legal Correspondent

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Ludhiana, September 9

The court of Additional Sessions Judge Shiv Mohan Garg today dismissed the bail petition moved by former MLA and Lok Insaaf Party chief Simarjit Singh Bains in a rape case.

Pronouncing the order, the court held that keeping in view the serious nature of the charges, the accused was not entitled to bail.

On July 11, 2020, Bains had surrendered before a local court following Supreme Court orders. He remained in police custody for more than a week. Thereafter, he was remanded in judicial custody and is presently lodged at the Barnala Jail.

During the arguments, the prosecution vehemently opposed the grant of bail to the former MLA with the plea that the accused was an influential person. It said there was every possibility that the accused might hamper the investigation.

In his plea, Bains claimed to be innocent. He asserted that he had fallen victim to a conspiracy hatched by his opponents. During the police remand, no incriminating article was recovered from him, he claimed.

It has been asserted that the woman had made different versions at different times, which falsified her story. Earlier, she had moved an application to the Punjab CM through his OSD on 5-10-2020, levelling allegations against property dealer Sukhchain Singh (one accused in this case) for forcing her to have sexual relations with him. Later, she struck a compromise and retracted from her previous statement with the plea that some words had been mentioned erroneously and her property matter had been settled. Regarding the property matter, she moved another application before the Commissioner of Police, Ludhiana, on November 16, 2020, mentioning she was raped between August 4 to October 1, 2020.

The FIR was registered against Bains in July 2021.