Esplanade Court closes Islam Gymkhana molestation case

A Mumbai court accepted a police closure report declaring a molestation case against Gymkhana officials as false, citing inconsistencies in the complainant's statements.

MUMBAI: A city court has accepted a closure report filed by the Marine Drive police in a molestation case against Islam Gymkhana general secretary Nurul Amin and billiards player Riyan Razmi, brought by a female member of the club nearly three years ago.

Esplanade Court closes Islam Gymkhana molestation case

The case, lodged on October 21, 2022, by a 35-year-old lifetime member, alleged that Amin had forcibly entered the women’s changing room at the Marine Drive club, shouted at her and touched her inappropriately, and that Razmi later misbehaved with her in a similar manner.

The Marine Drive police submitted a ‘B Summary’ report in May 2023, stating the complaint was “maliciously false” and no offence had taken place. On Thursday, additional chief judicial magistrate KS Zanwar of Esplanade court accepted the police report, noting that the complainant had neither appeared before the court nor filed a protest petition.

Police said their investigation had found multiple inconsistencies in the woman’s statements, including her admission that she had not locked the changing room and that the space was too small to accommodate two persons at once. Statements of gymkhana staff were also recorded, with all denying that such an incident took place. The complainant’s father, though present on the premises that day, declined to give a statement.

Investigators also pointed out that the woman had not named the accused in her deposition before a magistrate under Section 164 of the CrPC and was later seen conversing with them at the club without reporting the matter immediately.

“We filed the B Summary on the basis of contradictions and lack of corroboration. The court has now accepted our findings,” said a police officer.

Defence lawyer Sunil Pandey, who represented Amin and Razmi, said, “My clients were falsely implicated. This was entirely motivated by factionalism within the Gymkhana over elections.”

An internal inquiry committee formed by Islam Gymkhana too had concluded that the allegations were “false and baseless.”