‘Prolonged Pre-Trial Detention Anathema To Liberty’: MP High Court Grants Bail To Rape Accused Where Victim Turned Hostile

The Madhya Pradesh High Court granted bail to an accused in a rape and abduction case (also invoking POCSO) after observing that prolonged pre-trial custody undermines liberty, especially when trial is unlikely to conclude promptly and the prosecutrix has turned hostile. Justice Milind Phadke emphasized that extended detention without resolution is contrary to the concept of liberty and that turning hostile weakens the strength of the prosecution case. The order balances the gravity of allegations with procedural fairness, holding that bail cannot be denied indefinitely in the absence of mitigating circumstances.