HC grants conditional bail to Jani Master

Hyderabad:The Telangana High Court on Thursday granted regular bail with conditions to choreographer Jani Master, alias Shaik Jani Basha, who was arrested under the Pocso Act following allegations of sexual assault by a female dancer.

Justice Juvvadi Sridevi granted bail on the petition filed by Jani Master, who has been in jail since his arrest on September 29. The judge viewed that the de facto complainant/victim had moved with the accused on her own consent. Moreover, as per the evidence on record, since the de facto complainant/victim appeared to be a major, she was capable of taking her own independent decisions.

Hence, the court, prima facie, considered that Jani Master alone cannot be made liable for the consensual acts, which is a subject matter of trial.

On the issue of the age of the victim during the alleged sexual assault, the judge considered the submissions made by senior counsel C. Pratap Reddy, who submitted that as per the rules of ‘Dhee’ dance show, the contestants should be aged between 18 and 24 years. The victim had participated as a contestant in the 2018 edition of ‘Dhee’, therefore, the victim had attained 18 years by that time. As such, the offence cannot be attracted under the POCSO Act.

The judge considered that though the alleged incident had occurred four years prior to lodging the complaint, the reasons for such an inordinate delay were not explained. Hence, the court viewed that the victim and the accused have participated in consensual sex.

While granting bail, the court imposed conditions that Jani Master shall be released on bail on his executing a personal bond of `20,000 with two sureties. Further, the court directed that he and his family members shall not interfere with the personal life and liberty of the victim and her profession and they shall not contact the victim in any manner.