Sexual Assault Case: Mumbai Court Grants Interim Relief To All Accuseddue To Some Qualms About The Merits Of The Case

Case Background

• A woman advocate, aged 35, had registered a sexual harassment caseagainst seven of her colleagues, three lawyers and four staffs, working in a law firm.
• An FIR was registered under Section 376 (Punishment for Rape) of the Indian Penal Code, 1860 at the Marine Drive Police Station, in South Mumbai.
• It was alleged that the victim was subject to harassment twice in two months.
• The case was brought before the Mumbai Sessions Court.

Complainant’s Submissions

• The victim stated that she was sexually assaulted by two male lawyers, and was abused by a female lawyer.
• The alleged acts were said to have taken place between 5th June to 10th June, 2021, and between 17th June and 15th July, 2021.
• She was them told to leave the office

Accused’s Submissions

• It was submitted that the complainant had registered a fraudulent FIR, and that this was not the first instance of the kind.
• One of such FIRs was filed in the year 2014; however, the same was quashed due to her withdrawal of the allegations.
• Advocate Sanjeev Punalekar, representing the accused lawyers, stated that such fake FIRs would affect the reputations of the lawyers.

Court’s Order

• The Mumbai Sessions Court considered the WhatsApp exchanges between the victim and accused wherein the victim had texted a sorry message to the prime accused.
• The message was sentafter the dates on which she had claimed to havebeen raped, that is, 5th June to 10th June. She had sent the apology message on 17th June, 2021.
• The Court suspected some dispute and confusions with respect to the merits of the case, and therefore, it ordered an interim relief to all the accused till 2nd August 2021, when the Court will proceed with the next hearing.
• It further ordered the accused to appear at the police station on every alternate day, between 6pm and 8pm.

What are your views on the Court’s Order?