Bail courts cannot assess specific allegations against the accused’s defence version.

The applicant was arrested in connection with Crime No. 83/2026, registered at Police Station Arjuni, District Dhamtari, for an offence under Section 74 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023.

The prosecution alleged that, while visiting the victim’s home for a ritual, the applicant attempted to outrage her modesty and fled when she raised an alarm.

The applicant denied the allegation, asserting that his contact with the victim was inadvertent and that the victim’s husband assaulted him; he relied on his medico-legal certificate.

The charge-sheet had been filed, the applicant had no criminal antecedents, and none of the ten cited witnesses had been examined.

He sought regular bail under Section 483 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023.

Whether the applicant should be granted regular bail under Section 483 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023, in light of the allegations and the circumstances advanced in support of bail.

Whether the applicant’s defence that the contact was inadvertent and the prosecution case was false could be assessed at the bail stage.

Section 483 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023, provides the basis for the application for regular bail.

The alleged offence was under Section 74 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023.

The Court stated that, at the bail stage, its role is confined to assessing whether a prima facie case exists; the veracity of specific allegations in the FIR is not to be determined by weighing the defence version at that stage.

The FIR and the victim’s statement recorded under Section 183 of the BNSS contained specific allegations that the applicant had deliberately attempted to outrage her modesty and made inappropriate comments.

In the Court’s view, those allegations disclosed a prima facie case.

It declined to determine whether the contact was inadvertent or whether the complaint was false, observing that the applicant’s defence could not be used at the bail stage to test the veracity of the allegations.

Having regard to the allegations and the nature and gravity of the offence, the Court was not inclined to grant bail, notwithstanding the submissions concerning custody, the filed charge-sheet, the applicant’s lack of antecedents, and the