Actor Alok Nath’s lawyer claimed that the allegations of rape against him by writer-producer Vinta Nanda were a “figment of her imagination” at a hearing in a Mumbai court on 20 December. A report by Hindustan Times quoted advocate Devendra Goburdhun as saying, “She (Nanda) has kept the whole world at her beck and call and did not go for investigations when police called her.”
The defence put forth that Tara — the show on which Nanda was a writer and Nath a lead actor — was shelved as it portrayed an “ultra-modern woman who drank and smoked”. Goburdhun pointed out alleged discrepancies in Nanda’s complaints to the Mumbai police claiming that she initially said she left Nath’s party alone and walked down an empty street when a man offered to drop her home after which she woke up feeling violated. In her second statement she claimed that Nath had left his party to drop her home.
Goburdhun questioned how a man could rape a woman when there were two other women present in the same apartment. He also purported that the dates submitted by Nanda to the Mumbai police and the Cine Artists’ body differed.
The court will continue hearing arguments on the case on 24 December.
Earlier in December, Alok Nath filed an anticipatory bail plea before the Dindoshi court in Mumbai. He was booked by the Mumbai police for rape in November following a complaint registered by writer-producer Vinta Nanda.
According to media reports his application for bail was rejected, translating into a right to the authorities to arrest him. Dhruti Kapadia, Nanda’s advocate sought to file an intervention application opposing Nath’s plea.
Vinta Nanda took to social media in October and accused the actor of raping her 20 years ago when she was a writer and producer on the TV show Tara. In response, Nath filed a defamation suit against Nanda and sought a gag order demanding that she not be allowed to speak to the media. Both were later quashed. The Cine and TV Artistes’ Association (CINTAA) has severed all ties with Alok Nath in light of the allegations.
(With inputs from Hindustan Times)
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