HC rejects bail plea of ​​former minister Gayatri Prajapati, who is serving sentence in rape case

Lucknow. The bail petition of former minister Gayatri Prajapati and two others, convicted in the case of gang rape and sexual abuse of a minor, was rejected by the Lucknow bench of Allahabad High Court on Friday. The division bench of Justice Vivek Chaudhary and Justice Mohammad Faiz Alam Khan had reserved the decision on September 10 after hearing the bail petition.

Gayatri’s advocate Purnendu Chakraborty said in the petition that the victim woman had accused Gayatri and two other accused of gang rape and sexual abuse of her minor daughter. During the investigation, it was revealed that Gayatri and others were accused due to political motivation.

The trial court convicted Gayatri Prajapati, Ashish Kumar Shukla and Ashok Tiwari under the sections of gang rape and POCSO in the case and sentenced them to life imprisonment. On Friday, the High Court said in its verdict that the bail petition of the convicts is rejected due to lack of sufficient reason in relation to their bail petition.

FIR was registered after the order of the Supreme Court
During the hearing of the case, Additional Government Advocate Umesh Chandra Verma opposed the bail plea. He said that the FIR of the gang rape victim was also not being written because one of the accused, Gayatri Prajapati, was a minister in the then SP government. After the order of the writ filed in the Supreme Court, the FIR of the victim was registered in Gautampalli police station of Lucknow on 18 February 2017. The victim’s lawyer Suniti Sachan also opposed the bail of the culprits.