BJP leader Bernard N Marak, accused of running a brothel at his farmhouse in Meghalaya, has been granted bail by the High Court. Ordering conditional bail on Saturday, the court told Bernard that he would neither abscond nor tamper with the evidence.
The court in its order also said that with these conditions he is not even allowed to leave the country and he will cooperate in the investigation of the case. The court also asked Marak to furnish a personal bond of Rs 50,000 along with two solvent sureties of the same amount. Justice W Diengdoh said in the court order, “The accused Bernard N Marak is directed to be released on bail, if not wanted in other cases, provided the following conditions are complied with.”
It is reported that LK Gracie, wife of Bernard N Marak, had filed a bail application on Friday. Following arguments in the case, the High Court found that Bernard may have been the owner of the property in which the brothel was run, but the High Court expressed doubts whether there was sufficient evidence to indicate that he he was running a brothel.
The Court observed that “the statements of the witnesses and the evidence on record are not sufficient evidence to link the accused with the alleged crime, as there is no preliminary evidence that the site of the crime has been used as a brothel. Also there is no evidence to prove that prostitution was carried out there.
Former extremist leader Bernard N Marak was arrested from Hapur district of Uttar Pradesh. The police had raided his farmhouse in Tura, Meghalaya. After the raid, six minors were rescued from the farmhouse and 73 people were arrested and 500 packets of contraception, objectionable items and dozens of vehicles were recovered. In this case, a case was registered against the BJP leader at Tura Mahila Police Station under various sections of the Immoral Traffic (Prevention) Act, 1956.