The Allahabad High Court has turned down the bail plea of a man accused of blackmailing a woman using her obscene photographs and videos. Along with rejecting bail, the court took an unusual step - it directed doctors to examine the applicant's mental condition, after going through the messages and social media posts he had allegedly sent to the victim.
Background of the Case
The applicant, Rahul Kumar Saroj, had approached the court seeking bail in a case registered at Manjhanpur police station in Kaushambi district. He was booked under several sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita along with provisions of the POCSO Act and the IT Act.
According to the prosecution, this wasn't the first complaint against him. An earlier FIR had already been filed by the victim in December 2025, alleging that he had hacked her phone to obtain obscene photographs and then used them to threaten her. He was arrested in that case too, and released on bail.
But the trouble didn't end there. After getting out on bail, the applicant allegedly went right back to threatening the victim - sending obscene messages, posting content on social media, and demanding Rs 5 lakh in exchange for deleting the photos and videos. This led to the fresh FIR that formed the basis of the present bail application.
The applicant's counsel argued that the woman had been in a relationship with him, and filed the case only after he refused to marry her. It was also pointed out that a chargesheet had already been filed, so there was no need to keep him in custody.
Court's Observation
The State opposed the plea strongly. The prosecution informed the court that police had recovered actual messages and letters sent by the applicant to the victim and her relatives, along with obscene photos posted online - all placed before the judge for review.
After going through this material, Justice Arun Kumar Singh Deshwal observed that the applicant may indeed have been in a relationship with the victim, but that this didn't explain what came next.
The bench observed,
"considering the language and nature of messages and the nature of photographs and video posted by the applicant on social media, this Court is not inclined to release the applicant on bail."
Decision
The bail application was rejected. Additionally, the court directed the Chief Medical Officer, Kaushambi, to conduct a mental examination of the applicant, noting concerns about his mental soundness based on the content of the messages, and to place the report on record before the trial court.
Case Details:
Case Title: Rahul Kumar Saroj vs. State of U.P. and 3 Others
Case Number: Criminal Misc. Bail Application No. 18318 of 2026
Judge: Hon'ble Arun Kumar Singh Deshwal, J.
Decision Date: July 17, 2026
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