On Tuesday, transgender councillor Bobi Kinnar was granted anticipatory bail by the Rohini Court in a case related to his caste certificate. The court provided interim protection, noting that the case is based on documents and does not involve the threat of witness intimidation. Bobi Kinnar was initially granted interim protection on August 17. An FIR has been filed against him at the Sultan Puri police station regarding the caste certificate case, and he had requested anticipatory bail. Additional Sessions Judge (ASJ) Kapil Kumar approved the anticipatory bail application for Bobi Kinnar.
The court said, “Prima facie there is no scope of threatening the witnesses since admittedly the witnesses are government officials and as per record, the necessary documents must have been produced in the election petition filed by the complainant before the court of Ld. ADJ.”
The court observed that the case is based on documentation. “The first fact is that the present case primarily involves documentary evidence which was produced before the concerned authority at UP based on which the certificate in question was issued and the factum of issuance of the certificate itself is to be verified. There is no scope of tampering of these documents being official records,” the court said.
“Accordingly, considering the above-mentioned facts and the submissions of the investigating officer that there is no requirement of custodial interrogation of the accused/applicant at this
stage of the investigation, in the considered opinion of this court, the applicant deserves the interim protection from arrest till the next date of hearing (NDOH),” it added.
“Accordingly, let no coercive steps be taken by the IO against the applicant till the NDOH,” the court ordered on Tuesday.
The court directed that the applicant/accused participated in the investigation today as per the notice issued by the Investigation Officer (IO). He is required to continue cooperating with the investigation and attend as needed.
The court said, ” On the NDOH, IO would be at liberty to file the further/additional reply to the present application mentioning the developments in the investigation and on what grounds the custodial interrogation of the accused might be required.”
The court has scheduled the next hearing for September 10. During the previous session, the Investigation Officer (IO) appeared in person, whereas on Saturday, the IO appeared via video conference and indicated that he would first verify the applicant’s caste certificate before taking further legal action. The IO mentioned he was on leave and would submit a reply on Tuesday, also stating that he would not arrest Bobi until then. Advocate Amit Kumar, representing Bobi, claimed that the FIR was falsely registered by the complainant through misuse of legal processes and noted that a complaint had been filed against the complainant. The court has decided to initiate an inquiry into the matter.
An FIR was filed against Bobi based on a complaint by Varuna Dhaka, who alleges that Bobi used a forged or fabricated caste certificate to run in the MCD 2022 election. Varuna Dhaka, a Congress candidate, had lost the election to Bobi.