SC refuses relief to rape accused Atul Rai of BSP

Rai had moved the apex court on Tuesday seeking protection from arrest till the end of the general election on May 23. The court had agreed to hear his plea on Friday.

The Supreme Court on Friday refused to grant any relief to SP-BSP candidate from Uttar Pradesh’s Ghosi Lok Sabha constituency, Atul Rai, who is on the run in an alleged rape case.

Rai had moved the apex court on Tuesday seeking protection from arrest till the end of the general election on May 23. The court had agreed to hear his plea on Friday.

However, on Friday a Vacation Bench comprising Justices Indira Banerjee and Sanjiv Khanna adjourned the plea to another date.

Rai is reportedly absconding after an FIR was registered against him in a police station in Varanasi by a college student on May 1. The victim had alleged that Rai sexually assaulted her.

Ghosi parliamentary constituency is located in Mau district in eastern Uttar Pradesh and is scheduled to go to polls on Sunday in the final phase.