GUWAHATI: After granting anticipatory bail to innovator Uddhab Kumar Bharali, a Padma Shri awardee, accused of raping minor girls in his foster care, the Gauhati High Court has scheduled a case diary for January 7.

The accused stated that the complaint was brought against him after a disagreement with the chairwoman of the Child Welfare Committee (CWC) in Lakhimpur, Assam's north-eastern district. He had been instructed by the chairwoman to provide foster care for the alleged victims.

On December 18, 2021, the Assam police filed a FIR against Bharali, citing pertinent sections of the Indian Penal Code and the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act. This was in response to a complaint from a chief judicial magistrate who had been briefed the day before by the District Legal Services Authority.  Bharali was awarded the Padma Shri in 2019 for his more than 400 patents for grassroots innovations.

The offence accused was "severe in nature," but Justice Arun Dev Choudhury granted bail based on the petitioner's "antecedents, his accusation that the instant FIR has been brought to humiliate and smear his character," as well as a counter-petition against the district CWC.

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