Delhi court dismisses bail plea of advocate accused of raping intern

A Delhi court denied bail to an advocate accused of raping a lawyer and pressuring her to withdraw her complaint, citing attempts to influence the trial.

NEW DELHI

The court stated that the accused lawyer not only attempted to evade the process of law, but, in fact, tried to subvert the course of the trial. (Shutterstock)

A Delhi court on Thursday dismissed the bail plea of a 51-year-old advocate who is accused of raping a lawyer, an intern, and later pressurising her to withdraw her complaint, noting that he tried to subvert the course of trial. The order was passed by the additional sessions judge (fast track court), Nitin Phutela, of Saket courts.

The court said, “It has been brought on record that applicant not only tried to influence the victim, which led to cancellation of his anticipatory bail by Hon’ble High Court on the petition filed by the victim before the Delhi High Court”.

The court stated that the accused lawyer not only attempted to evade the process of law, but, in fact, tried to subvert the course of the trial. The court also dismissed the ground raised by the defence counsel, pertaining to an alleged settlement between the accused and the victim, stating that the agreement itself was under a shadow of doubt in view of the purported threats made to her.

The court noted, “The purpose of keeping the accused in custody is not only the custodial interrogation rather there are various other factors to be kept in mind while deciding the bail application”.

The court noted that if let out on bail, the accused could tamper with the evidence and influence witnesses, especially as he is a practising advocate and the complainant was an intern at his chamber.

A Delhi court on Wednesday refused to grant relief to the advocate and ordered that he be taken into custody forthwith. The court had noted that despite the dismissal of his petitions by both the high court and the Supreme Court, the accused neither surrendered nor appeared before the magistrate and trial court.

Separately, the Delhi High Court had ordered an administrative inquiry into allegations by the complainant that two district judges pressured her into withdrawing the case. The high court, in a full court meeting on August 29, suspended one of the district judges, Sanjeev Kumar Singh, and recommended disciplinary proceedings against him and another judge, Anil Kumar, based on the woman’s allegations.