New Delhi: Court orders FIR against woman as rape complaint used to extort cash

In an order passed on Tuesday, Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate Vinod Joshi of Saket court said that the evidence on record, including screenshots of the WhatsApp conversations between Samir and the woman, disclosed commission of a cognisable offence under BNS.

A Delhi court has directed Delhi Police to file a first information report (FIR) against a woman who, it said, appeared to be using a rape case she had filed against businessman Samir Modi — the brother of former Indian Premier League (IPL chairman) — to extort him for money. It also pulled up Delhi Police for failing to register an FIR on his extortion complaint even though he had approached the police prior to the registration of the rape case.

The court further reprimanded police for not lodging an FIR on the basis of Modi’s complaint.

In an order passed on Tuesday, Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate Vinod Joshi of Saket court said that the evidence on record, including screenshots of the WhatsApp conversations between Samir and the woman, disclosed commission of a cognisable offence under Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita section 308(6) (extortion by threat of accusation).

Adding that a police investigation was required in the present case, the court said the digital evidence needed to be secured, while the money transferred as a result of the alleged threats as well as the bank accounts needed to be seized.

The court passed the order on an application moved by Samir, through his counsel, Senior Advocate Vikram Sharma, seeking FIR against the woman. The application alleged that the woman had subjected him to sustained threats and intimidation and also demanded monetary favours from him under different pretexts.

The application further alleged that, the woman, who was a colleague, threatened him with dire consequences and warned him that she would lodge a false rape case against him if he did not accept her demands.

On September 18, Delhi Police arrested Samir in connection with a rape case lodged by the woman at the New Friends Colony police station. He was granted bail by the Saket Court on September 25.

The court further reprimanded police for not lodging an FIR on the basis of Modi’s complaint, despite the fact that he approached police on August 8, before the FIR accusing him of rape.

“Interestingly, no action has been taken upon the present complaint despite passage of more than four months and no explanation has been furnished for such non-action,” the order said. Instead, the court noted, it appeared that the state machinery turned on him in full force with a look-out circular being issued against him without a service of notice and with his subsequent arrest.

The chargesheet filed in therape case also does not mention the extortion complaint filed against the woman by Modi, the court said, adding, “The machinery of investigating agency cannot be employed to defeat the rights of the complainant for a fair investigation upon his (Modi’s) complaint.”