On Friday, 19 July, actor Aditya Pancholi’s interim relief has been extended till 3 August by a Mumbai court in a case filed against him by for allegedly raping a 36-year-old woman, reported to be an actor. The Dindoshi Sessions court granted the relief as the public prosecutor sought time to go through the papers of investigating agencies.
On Tuesday, 2 July, Aditya Pancholi was granted relief till 19 July by a Mumbai court. Pancholi was booked by the suburban Versova police on Thursday, 27 June, under IPC sections 376 (rape), 323 (assault), 328 (causing hurt by means of poison) and 384 (extortion), a senior official said.
According to the complaint filed against Pancholi in April last year, the 54-year-old actor sexually assaulted the actor between 2004 and 2009, said police spokesperson DCP Manjunath Singte. Pancholi also beat her up and confined her to his house whenever she tried to approach police during this period, the complaint read.
The actor’s sister also accused Pancholi of demanding Rs 1 crore for keeping him from showing private photographs of the actor to her family and friends. She claimed the actor paid him Rs 50 lakh.
Pancholi followed this up with a counter complaint against the actor. He said the actor’s lawyer had repeatedly been threatening him with a rape case following the defamation suit Pancholi filed against the actor.
‘Being Falsely Implicated, Allegations Pre-Planned’: Pancholi
Pancholi claimed he has been implicated in a false case, adding that the law will take its course. "It is a false rape case that they were planning and now they have done it. I was anticipating this. This was pre-planned as I had filed a defamation case against them,” Pancholi, who starred in several Bollywood films in the 1990s, told PTI. He had filed four defamation cases against the actor and her sister in 2017.
“It is not a small allegation, the law will take its course, I will fight out... the truth will come out,” he added.
“Earlier this year, the actor’s lawyer had threatened to file a rape case against me if I did not withdraw the defamation suit. I had recorded the conversation, which was produced to the court and the police,” he added. Pancholi alleged that the whole thing was a conspiracy.
According to Mid-Day, the police had recorded Pancholi’s statement on 12 May.
A Mumbai court on Tuesday, 25 June, issued summons to the actor and her sister in the defamation case. As per some reports, sources in the Mumbai Police have said that it would be hard for the cops to find evidence as the case is nearly 10 years old.
(With inputs from ANI, PTI and mid-day)
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