The Mumbai Sessions Court, on Saturday, granted bail to Alok Nath, a veteran actor of Bollywood, who was arrested after rape charges were filed against him during the #MeToo movement.
Vinta Nanda, in October 2018, shared her story on Facebook, accusing Alok Nath of rape and filed a First Information Report (FIR) at a Mumbai police station.
The Mumbai Court reviewed the case and granted anticipatory bail to Alok Nath, considering the lack of evidence and the delay in filing the complaint. The Court further observed, Ms. Nanda, who claimed the allegations to be true and remembered every detail about the incident, was unable to recall the date and the month of the incident. In addition, the Court also said, Ms. Nanda did not lodge a complaint at the time due to her own benefit. The Court further said, this plea, which was presented in the Court, proves Alok Nath was framed.
Speaking about the evidence, the Court said, according to Ms. Nanda’s statement, the incident happened at her home, therefore there is no chance of her destroying evidence, if any, and a medical examination will also be fruitless, as both Ms. Nanda and Mr. Nath are married.
Highlighting the facts, Judge S.S. Oza said, “In view of all these facts, the possibility cannot be ruled out that the applicant (Alok Nath) has falsely been enroped in the crime.” He further added, “So far as the reason to delay in lodging the FIR is concerned, the complainant stated in the report itself that she consulted with her friends regarding lodging of report but they told her that applicant (Nath) is a big actor and all her companies were already shut, therefore no one would believe her story, hence, she did not file the complaint. Thus, nothing on record to show that applicant has given any threat or made any promise for not lodging the report. Thus, it reveals that complainant did not lodge the report immediately after alleged incident of her own benefit.”
Although the Mumbai Court granted bail to Alok Nath, he has some limitations, which include him not having the right to visit Vinta Nanda’s house. He was also specifically asked to not bribe anyone related to the case.
The decision of the Mumbai Court drew a lot of criticism against the judiciary system of India. People took to Twitter and expressed their opinion about the judgement.
#AlokNath had filed an anticipatory bail application in Dindoshi court in Mumbai after a rape case was registered against him in November based on a complaint filed by a writer-producerhttps://t.co/lx7itqOogV
— Firstpost (@firstpost) January 5, 2019
No, the fact that a FIR was filed “late” or that the survivor has no memory of the exact date/month of the incident is NOT grounds for holding an accused as “wrongly implicated”. When will the courts move on from such regression and blaming! #aloknath
— Priyanka Bhosale (@MadameOinks) January 9, 2019