The Supreme Court on Tuesday, 8 May, reserved its order on a petition demanding the cancellation of bail to film producer Karim Morani in a rape case in which he was accused of sedating and raping a Delhi-based woman on several occasions.
Karuna Nundy, the lawyer representing the rape-survivor, wrote on Twitter that her client sought the cancellation on the grounds of "heinous offence, power differential and misleading the investigation".
The lawyer also added that in cases of aggravated rape, like the one against Morani, "from a position of dominance over a period of six months", the nature of the offence is such that bail shouldn't be granted.
The Telangana police had informed the apex court on 2 April 2018, that there was enough evidence against Morani. The court had then fixed 8 May for the final hearing in the case.
The Case
A Delhi-based MBA woman had, on 18 January 2017, filed a case with Hayathnagar police station, alleging that the producer of several Bollywood films, including Chennai Express, Karim Morani, had raped her on several occasions in Mumbai and Hyderabad’s film city on the promise of marrying her.
The 25-year-old claimed that she was interested in films and received an invitation from Morani to a party in Mumbai, where he allegedly drugged and raped her. The woman had also alleged that Morani took her nude pictures between July 2015 and January 2016 and threatened to make them public, according to a report on Livelaw.in.
Charges Against Karim Morani
The Bollywood producer has been booked under sections 417 (punishment for cheating), 376 (rape), 342 (wrongful confinement), 506 (criminal intimidation), 493 (cohabitation caused by a man deceitfully inducing a belief of lawful marriage), of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).
Anticipatory Bail and Surrender
Morani had filed for an anticipatory bail in January 2017, and a sessions court in Telangana granted him the same. However, the court cancelled the bail after it was informed that Morani was an accused in the 2G spectrum case as well. First, the Hyderabad High Court and then the Supreme Court, too, upheld the local court’s decision to cancel his bail.
Morani surrendered to the Police in September 2017. A report on NDTV.com claimed that Morani was granted a “regular bail” by the Hyderabad High Court in November 2017.
In February 2018, a three-judge bench, headed by Chief Justice Dipak Misra, had issued a notice to Morani seeking his response to the petition demanding the cancellation of his bail.
In April 2018, when the top court fixed 8 May for the final hearing in the case, the rape survivor's lawyer, Karuna Nundy, told the judge that Morani’s lawyers hadn’t responded to the February notice yet.
Lawyers Mukul Rohatgi and Siddharth Luthra, representing Karim Morani before the court, said that charges against their client were bogus and they will file their reply soon.
Who is Karim Morani?
Co-owner of the production house and event management company, Cineyug, Karim Morani has produced several hit films such as Chennai Express, Happy New Year and Ra.One.
Morani is said to have started his journey as a film producer with the 1991 film, Yodhdha, starring the yesteryear megastars Sunny Deol, Sanjay Dutt and Sangita Bijlani. However, his stint as a Bollywood producer has been a rather irregular one.
Morani produced his second film, Dum, starring Vivek Oberoi and Diya Mirza, in 2003, almost 12 years after he made his first film. Eight years later in 2011, Morani joined hands with Shah Rukh Khan’s production house, Red Chillies Entertainment, as a co-producer of Ra.One.
As a producer, Morani’s last venture was Rohit Shetty’s action-comedy, Dilwale, marking Shah Rukh Khan and Kajol’s on-screen comeback after over a decade. The film also had Varun Dhawan and Kriti Sanon in other roles.
Morani is also an accused in the 2G spectrum case.
(The story was edited on Tuesday to report the latest developments in the case.)
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