Video Editor: Purnendu Pritam
A lawyer has accused a senior from Lucknow of raping her in his chamber on 24 July.
After the accused government counsel Shailendra Singh Chauhan challenged the FIR, the Allahabad High Court directed the UP Police to not arrest him.
The court also restrained Chauhan from indulging in any sort of intimidation to the life or property of the complainant.
The Complainant's Narrative
He called me to his Gomti Nagar office to discuss the file. For half an hour we discussed the file. Then he offered me apple juice... I started feeling dizzy after 15-20 mins and I asked him for the way to the washroom. He took me to the washroom on the upper floor where he had his guest room. I washed my face, and when I came out of the washroom, he stood nude before me. He pushed me on the bed and then he raped me.Lawyer alleging rape
Chauhan is the additional chief standing counsel in the Lucknow Bench of the high court. He is also the standing counsel for the Lucknow Municipal Corporation in the high court.
The Division Bench of Justices AR Masoodi and Rajeev Singh at Lucknow passed the order in response to a writ petition filed by the accused, Shailendra Singh Chauhan, challenging the FIR.
The woman said that there was a delay in registering the case and in getting her medically examined.
“I reached the police station at around 4:30 pm but the FIR was registered after four and a half hours. After the FIR I went for the medical examination. I was finally tested at 2:30 am and that too wasn’t done properly... His (Chauhan’s) chamber was sealed 24 hours after that. He was given complete opportunity to clean his chamber and remove all the evidence.”Lawyer alleging rape
'FIR Was Delayed Because She Made a Lot of Changes': IO
Investigating Officer Jainendra Kumar alleges that the female lawyer made a lot of changes in the FIR because of which it got delayed.
"We wrote the FIR, then she made some changes. We wrote it the second time and she changed the details again. We can't make so many changes in the FIR. We sent her for medical examination soon after writing the FIR," said the Investigating Officer.
The woman also alleges that the judges in the court had already practised with Chauhan and so they all favoured him. She complained that so far, neither has the accused been removed from his position nor has any action been taken against him.
“The IO didn’t even share the primary medical report. I mean, when we went to the court we had nothing to show apart from the phone calls made by the accused to the victim. We had taken the screenshot of the call recordings on the phone. However, now they stand valid.”Aditya Vikram Shahi, Woman’s lawyer
On 5 August, SC Stayed the HC's Order
On 5 August, the SC stayed the high court's order that granted Chauhan interim relief from arrest, holding that from a bare perusal of the FIR, a case for intervention in favour of the accused was made out.
"The honourable Supreme Court has passed a stay order on the high court order. Now the case lies in two concurrent courts, one in the high court and the other in the Supreme Court. The matter is pending," said Chauhan's lawyer.
(At The Quint, we are answerable only to our audience. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member. Because the truth is worth it.)