In a bail application filed before the Madhya Pradesh High Court under Section 483 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 to enlarge the applicant on regular bail for a crime registered regarding offences punishable under Sections 308(6), 111(2), 61(2), and 3(5) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023, a Single Judge Bench of Justice Pavan Kumar Dwivedi allowed the application and enlarged the applicant on bail.
The applicant was a journalist associated with Tehelka Digital News who had been engaged in public interest journalism for several years. The applicant and her team conducted sting operations to expose illegal prenatal sex determination, unlawful abortions, and female foeticide being carried out in various nursing homes and hospitals in District Dewas, Madhya Pradesh, in violation of the Preconception and Prenatal Diagnostic Techniques Act, 1994 as well as the Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act, 1971. Resultantly, several First Information Reports (FIRs) were registered against the applicant and the present application was against an order dated 13-05-2026 by the trial court.
The applicant submitted that after the sting operations, the entire material was provided to the persons concerned in the news channel, who in turn, sent those videos to the Commissioner, Health Department, M.P., Chairperson of National Human Rights Commission, Director General of Police, M.P., and the Chief Medical and Health Officer, Dewas. It was asserted that the FIR was registered only after the videos were sent to the said officers by alleging that the applicant had been hatching a conspiracy to extort money from the complainant.
Considering that on 06-04-2026, the sting operation video was already sent to the aforementioned officers and that the FIR was registered only after that on 07-04-2026, the Court allowed the application and enlarged the applicant on bail. Thus, the applicant was directed to be released on bail upon furnishing a personal bond of Rs. 1,00,000/- with one solvent surety of like amount. Lastly, the Court held that the present order would be effective till the end of the trial unless any bail condition is breached by the applicant.
