Bilaspur: The Chhattisgarh High Court has granted anticipatory bail to 26-year-old Tribhuvan Patel in a case involving allegations of assault and caste-based abuse in Korba. The court took note of the fact that Patel’s name was absent from the original FIR and that the complainant belonged to the Other Backward Classes (OBC) category.
The case relates to an incident reported on May 17, 2025. According to the prosecution, Uday Patel lodged a complaint at Korba’s Kotwali police station on May 19, alleging that Chakradhar Mohanty and his associates had assaulted him and abused him using caste-related slurs.
Based on the complaint, police initially registered an FIR under Sections 296, 115(2) and 3(5) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita. Tribhuvan Patel was not named as an accused at that stage, and no provisions of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act were included in the original FIR.
A subsequent written complaint by Uday Patel and others led to Patel’s name being added to the case. Police also invoked Sections 3(1)(da) and 3(2)(va) of the SC-ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act.
Patel subsequently approached the Special Court seeking anticipatory bail, citing the apprehension of arrest. However, his application was rejected on June 19, 2026. He then challenged the order before the High Court.
During the hearing, Patel’s advocates V.R. Tiwari and Vikas Kumar Pandey argued that the complainant himself belonged to the OBC category and that the original FIR neither named Patel nor invoked provisions of the SC-ST Act. They contended that these provisions were added subsequently on the basis of the written complaint.
Justice Rakesh Mohan Pandey, while considering the circumstances and nature of the allegations, set aside the Special Court’s order and granted Patel anticipatory bail.
The High Court directed that if Patel is arrested, he be released on bail upon furnishing a personal bond and a local surety of the same amount.
The court also imposed conditions on the accused. He must not threaten, induce or promise any person connected with the case to prevent them from presenting facts before the court. He must also refrain from any action that could obstruct a fair and speedy trial.
