Aditya Pancholi gets interim relief from arrest in rape case

A Mumbai court Tuesday granted interim relief from arrest to Bollywood actor Aditya Pancholi till July 19 in connection with a case of rape filed against him by a 36-year-old woman. He had filed an anticipatory bail application in the Dindoshi sessions court.

Seeking pre-arrest bail for the actor, his lawyer Prashant Patil argued that the woman had lied in her complaint. Her date of birth was different in her complaint and in her passport, and such discrepancies show "her intention to lie," the lawyer said.

The woman waited for 15 years after the alleged crime, and filed the complaint only when Pancholi got a favourable order from a magistrate's court in a defamation case he has filed against her, advocate Patil argued.

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The police opposed the plea for anticipatory bail. Judge HB Gaikwad adjourned the hearing to July 19 and granted Pancholi interim relief. If he is arrested during this period, he must be released on an interim bail until further orders on executing a personal bond of Rs 30,000, the judge said.

The suburban Versova Police has registered a case against Pancholi under IPC sections 376 (rape), 323 (assault), 328 (causing hurt by means of poison) and 384 (extortion).

The woman has accused, among other things, that Pancholi extorted Rs 50 lakh from her after threatening to send her private photographs to her relatives and friends. Pancholi has claimed that he is being implicated in a false case.