The Rajasthan High Court has ordered status quo on house -properties of the families of five accused in the infamous Bijaynagar blackmailing and sexual exploitation case.
A single bench of Justice Mahendra Kumar Goyal issued the stay order on Thursday while hearing a petition filed by Shaukat and four others.
Pleading for the petitioners, Counsel Sayyed Sahadat Ali stated that while all five accused (petitioners) are in jail under judicial custody, the authorities have pasted demolition notice on their houses with a warning to remove all their possession as the houses (encroachment) would be demolished.
Challenging the notice, the petitioners’ lawyer said, “The referred houses/properties are not owned by the accused but their families, and the property cannot be demolished without sealing the same.”
The lawyer told the court that even the directives from the Supreme Court are not being followed in the case.
The next hearing in the case is scheduled for March 11.
The five accused were arrested following the lodging of three FIRs on February 16 last accusing them of blackmail and sexual exploitation of five minor school girls of Bijaynagar. An allegation of exerting pressure on the girls for conversion is also made against the accused persons, who belong to a particular community.
Since then, as many as 12 accused have so far been arrested in the case.
Meanwhile, the police have set up a special investigation team (SIT) for a comprehensive probe in the case.