09.09.2026 IN THE HIGH COURT AT CALCUTTA Item No.176 CRIMINAL MISCELLANEOUS JURISDICTION Ct.No.35 dc. Allowed C.R.M. (M) 1796 of 2026 In Re : An Application for bail under Section 439 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 corresponding to Section 483 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 filed in connection with Habibpur Police Station Case No. 278 of 2023 dated 15.08.2023 under Section 363 of the Indian Penal Code and adding Sections 365/376/120B of the Indian Penal Code read with Section 6 of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act and Sections 9/10 of Prohibition of Child Marriage Act, 2006 and Section 14A(b) of the Foreigners Act. And In Re : Abhi Sikdar @ Ovi Sikdar @ Sadhu Sikdar ... Petitioner. Mr. Aliul Islam ... For the Petitioner. Mr. Somopriyo Chowdhury, Ms. Deblina Bhattacharjee ... For the State. Mr. Saryati Datta ... For the de facto complainant. Learned advocate appearing for the petitioner submits that the petitioner is in custody for three years and till date, only four witnesses have been examined. As such, petitioner prays for bail. Learned advocate appearing for the de facto complainant/opposite party no.2 opposes the prayer for bail and insists upon the application under Section 30 of the POCSO Act. Learned advocate appearing for the State opposes the prayer for bail and draws the attention of the Court to the evidence of the victim. I have taken into account the examination-in-chief, cross-examination and the statement of the victim before the 2 learned Magistrate under Section 183 of the BNSS. Having regard to the period of detention of the petitioner and the tenor of the statement of the victim, I am of the opinion that further detention of the present petitioner in connection with the instant case is unwarranted. As such, the prayer for bail of the petitioner is allowed. Accordingly, the petitioner viz., Abhi Sikdar @ Ovi Sikdar @ Sadhu Sikdar shall be released on bail upon furnishing bond of Rs.20,000/-, with two sureties of Rs.10,000/- each, one of whom must be local, to the satisfaction of the learned Judge, Special Court under the POCSO Act, ADJ 2nd Court, Malda. If on bail, the petitioner shall be physically present on each and every date before the learned Special Court and shall not leave the jurisdiction of the district of Malda without prior permission of the learned Special Court. The application for bail, being CRM (M) 1796 of 2026, is, thus, disposed of. All concerned parties shall act on the server copy of this order duly downloaded from the official website of this Court. Urgent photostat certified copy of this order, if applied for, be supplied to the parties upon compliance with all requisite formalities. (Tirthankar Ghosh, J.)