MP High Court Grants Anticipatory Bail to Narmadapuram Bar President, Finds No Prima Facie SC/ST Act Case

The Madhya Pradesh High Court has granted anticipatory bail to Deepak Jain, President of the District Bar Association, Narmadapuram, after finding that the prosecution failed to establish a prima facie case against him under the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act. The Court observed that the Call Detail Records (CDRs) contradicted the prosecution's primary allegation and that no specific overt act had been attributed to the applicant.

Justice Ramkumar Choubey noted that the case arose from an internal dispute between elected office-bearers of the Bar Association, which escalated following a disagreement during a meeting and a subsequent exchange on a WhatsApp group. The complainant alleged that Jain had threatened him over a phone call before Jain's sons later assaulted him at his office.

However, the Court found that the CDRs showed it was the complainant who had called Jain during the relevant period, contradicting the allegation that Jain initiated the threatening call. It also remained undisputed that Jain was not present when the alleged assault took place.

The Court further observed that the trial court had rejected the anticipatory bail plea without identifying any incriminating material or assigning a specific role to the applicant. Since no prima facie offence under the SC/ST Act was made out, the statutory bar against anticipatory bail under the Act was held inapplicable.

Accordingly, the High Court allowed the anticipatory bail application and directed that Jain be released on bail in the event of his arrest upon furnishing a personal bond of ₹50,000 with one solvent surety, subject to the conditions prescribed under the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS).