The Officer in Charge Police Station Poonawa vs. Segu Ismile Mohamad Manzoor et al. – CA BAIL 60/2022-2022

In the case between the suspect petitioner (implicated in alleged rape and abduction of a 15-year-old girl) and the Officer in Charge (Police Station Poonawa), the Hon. Attorney General, and another respondent, the court addressed the issue of whether the suspect met the high threshold of “exceptional circumstances” required under the Assistance to and Protection of Victims and Witnesses Act for the grant of bail. The court held that the bail application should be dismissed, determining that the statutory standard of “exceptional circumstances” had not been satisfied. The decision reaffirmed the principle that protective legislative provisions for vulnerable victims take precedence, and that exceptions to bail must be considered on a case-by-case basis with strict adherence to statutory in