The FIR was lodged in 2002 at the Pashim Vihar police station and Kaur faced a maximum jail term of three years under the penal provisions.

As the case proceeded, Kaur became irregular in attending the hearings and sought frequent exemptions from personal appearance through her counsel. However, since September last, she stopped coming to the court altogether without any explanation, which “compelled” the magistrate to issue warrants. As the warrants too failed to bring her to court, the police initiated proceedings to declare her a proclaimed offender and the magistrate acceded to the request.

The police subsequently arrested Kaur from her house on February 16 and produced her before the court, which sent her to Tihar Jail for 14 days’ judicial custody. Kaur’s counsel then moved her bail plea before the Metropolitan Magistrate Archana Sinha.

The court was also told that Kaur was apologetic of her unexplained absence and promised not to repeat the mistake. The prosecutor, however, opposed Kaur’s plea, accusing her of deliberately delaying the trial by way of non-appearance before the court on fixed dates. While the magistrate found substance in prosecutor’s argument regarding the delay in court proceedings owing to her absence, she could not overlook the facts that Kaur was a septuagenarian woman suffering with several ailments.