Rajdeep Thathera vs The State Of Bihar on 27 February, 2026

Supreme Court – Daily Orders

Rajdeep Thathera vs The State Of Bihar on 27 February, 2026

                                       IN THE SUPREME COURT OF INDIA
                                      CRIMINAL APPELLATE JURISDICTION


                                CRIMINAL APPEAL NO(s).        OF 2026
                                   (@ SLP(CRL.) NO(s). 21000/2025)


                   RAJDEEP THATHERA                                                Appellant(s)


                                                           VERSUS

                   THE STATE OF BIHAR & ANR.                                       Respondent(s)



                                                    O R D E R

Leave granted.

This criminal appeal challenges the order dated

09.02.2024 passed by the High Court of Judicature at

Patna, in Criminal Appeal (DB) No. 580/2023, whereby the

appellant’s application for suspension of sentence was

dismissed.

The appellant Rajdeep Thathera faced trial in

connection with a crime registered pursuant to FIR

212/2022 dated 13.09.2022 lodged with P.S. Rail Sonepur,

District Rail Muzaffarpur in respect of the offences

punishable under Sections 376(3), 366A and 363 of the

Indian Penal Code, 1860 [in short “IPC”] and under

Sections 4, 6 and 8 of the Protection of Children from
Signature Not Verified

Digitally signed by
NEETU SACHDEVA
Date: 2026.02.27
17:18:10 IST
Reason: Sexual Offences Act, 2012 [in short “POCSO Act”].

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The trial court convicted the appellant for the

offences under Sections 376(3) and 363 of the IPC and

under Sections 4 and 8 of the POCSO Act vide judgment

dated 09.02.2024 and awarded a sentence of rigorous

imprisonment for a period of 20 years, along with a fine

of Rs.10,000/-, for the offence under Section 376(3) of

IPC, and a sentence of rigorous imprisonment for a period

of 5 years, along with fine of Rs. 5000/-, for the offence

under Section 363 of IPC. Further, a sentence of twenty

years of rigorous imprisonment along with a fine of

Rs.5000/- was awarded under Section 4 of the POCSO Act and

a sentence of rigorous imprisonment of four years along

with a fine of Rs.4,000/- was awarded under Section 8 of

the POCSO Act.

The appellant, being aggrieved by the order of

conviction passed by the trial court, filed Criminal

Appeal (DB) No. 580/2023 before the High Court and the

same is pending before the High Court. During the pendency

of the said criminal appeal, the appellant filed an

application before the High Court seeking suspension of

sentence. The High Court, by the impugned order dated

09.02.2024, dismissed the application filed by the

appellant for suspension of sentence. Hence, the present

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criminal appeal.

This Court, vide its order dated 17.12.2025, issued

notice in the instant matter.

We have heard learned counsel for the appellant,

learned counsel for the respondents and perused the

material on record.

Learned counsel for the appellant submitted that the

relationship between the appellant and the so-called

victim was consensual in nature; they had known each other

and the fact remains that the appellant herein was only

twenty two years of age at the relevant point of time and

the so-called victim was also in her teens. It is not a

case of a brutal sexual assault as has been made out to

be. The trial court was not justified in convicting the

appellant and sentencing him for twenty years of rigorous

imprisonment. The appeal of the appellant is pending

before the High Court which is of the year 2023. There

would inevitably be a delay in hearing of the appeal and

the appellant has a good case on merits. He has already

completed three years and six months in jail. In the

circumstances, this court may set aside the impugned order

and grant the relief of suspension of sentence and bail

subject to the conditions that may be imposed.

Per contra, learned counsel appearing for the State

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of Bihar vehemently contended that there is no merit in

this appeal; that the High Court was justified in

declining to grant the relief of suspension of sentence

and bail having regard to the nature of the offence and

bearing in mind the fact that the victim was, in fact, a

minor at the relevant point of time. She therefore,

submitted that the appeal may be simply dismissed.

Considering the facts on record, in our view, the

case for suspension of sentence is made out.

We, therefore, allow this appeal and direct as under:

“The appellant shall be produced before the

concerned trial Court as early as possible and

the trial Court shall release him on bail,

subject to such conditions as it may deem

appropriate to impose to ensure his presence in

the proceedings.”

The appellant shall appear before the High Court

as and when directed to do so.

It is directed that the appellant shall extend

complete cooperation in the hearing of the appeal

before the High Court. The appellant shall not misuse

his liberty in any manner.

Any infraction of the conditions imposed may

entail cancellation of the suspension of sentence

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granted to the appellant.

With these observations, the criminal appeal is

allowed.

………………………………………………………J.
( B.V. NAGARATHNA )

…………………………………………………………J.
( UJJAL BHUYAN )
NEW DELHI;

FEBRUARY 27, 2026




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ITEM NO.4                COURT NO.4                 SECTION II-A

                S U P R E M E C O U R T O F      I N D I A
                        RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS

Petition(s) for Special Leave to Appeal (Crl.)     No(s).    21000/2025

[Arising out of impugned final judgment and order dated 09-02-2024
in CRADB No. 580/2023 passed by the High Court of Judicature at
Patna]

RAJDEEP THATHERA Petitioner(s)
VERSUS

THE STATE OF BIHAR & ANR. Respondent(s)

IA No. 325451/2025 – CONDONATION OF DELAY IN FILING
IA No. 325452/2025 – EXEMPTION FROM FILING O.T.

Date : 27-02-2026 This matter was called on for hearing today.

CORAM :

HON’BLE MRS. JUSTICE B.V. NAGARATHNA
HON’BLE MR. JUSTICE UJJAL BHUYAN

For Petitioner(s) :Mr. Ashutosh Kumar Jha Dheeraj, Adv.

Mr. Ishwar Chandra Roy, Adv.
Mr. Nilesh Kumar, Adv.

Mr. Sarfaraz Ahmed, Adv.
Mr. Jugul Kishor Gupta, AOR

For Respondent(s) :Mr. Manish Kumar, AOR
Mr. Kumar Saurav, Adv.

Mr. Ravi Shanker Jha, Adv.

Ms. Shaswati Parhi, Adv.
Mr. Manish Kumar, AOR.

UPON hearing the counsel the Court made the following
O R D E R
Leave granted.

The Appeal is allowed in terms of the signed
order.

Pending application(s) shall stand disposed of.

(NEETU SACHDEVA)                           (DIVYA BABBAR)
ASTT. REGISTRAR-cum-PS                COURT MASTER (NSH)

(signed order is placed on the file)

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