Journalism of Courage
Karnataka homestay owner’s arrest over US woman’s rape illegal: Supreme Court
The Karnataka High Court had held that ‘a citizen’s fundamental rights cannot be bartered away simply because of pressure from foreign embassies'.
A bench of Justices Vikram Nath and Sandeep Mehta dismissed the appeal filed by the Karnataka government. (File Photo)
The Supreme Court on Tuesday upheld the Karnataka High Court order declaring illegal the arrest of the owner of a homestay in Kodagu where a US national was allegedly sexually assaulted in April.
The high court, which also directed the state government to pay the homestay owner Rs 5 lakh in compensation, said in its July 15 order that “a citizen’s fundamental rights cannot be bartered away simply because of pressure from foreign embassies”.
A bench of Justices Vikram Nath and Sandeep Mehta dismissed an appeal filed by the state government, which argued that the homestay owner was informed of the grounds of his arrest, the fact of his arrest was intimated to his relative, and he was produced before the jurisdictional magistrate within the stipulated period. It further argued that the police had a duty to take him into custody to conduct a preliminary investigation because the FIR contained cognisable offences.
The homestay owner and an employee were arrested after the American embassy forwarded a complaint stating that the employee spiked the tourist’s drink and sexually assaulted her on April 12 while she stayed there.
The police picked up the homestay owner on the evening of April 18, detained him overnight, and recorded his arrest at 5 am the following morning. The FIR was registered under charges of rape, criminal intimidation, and concealing design to commit an offence.
Rape charge against homestay owner ‘wholly incongruous’
After reviewing the case diary, the high court noted that the homestay owner was admittedly not present when the crime occurred and had no direct role in it.
The high court had ruled that charging the homestay owner with rape was “wholly incongruous”. The remaining charges, dealing with the omission of information or the disappearance of evidence, were non-cognisable.
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Invoking landmark Supreme Court rulings, the high court said that arrest is not a “ritualistic exercise” or a starting tool for investigation.
The homestay owner has also moved a contempt petition in the high court as he has not received the compensation, which the government was to pay within four weeks of the court order.
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