This Article is From Aug 20, 2015

Peepli Live Co-Director Mahmood Farooqui Seeks Bail in Rape Case

Peepli Live Co-Director Mahmood Farooqui Seeks Bail in Rape Case

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New Delhi: Filmmaker Mahmood Farooqui, who has been accused of allegedly raping an American research scholar at his residence here, today moved a bail application before a Delhi court.

Mr Farooqui, best known for co-directing the 2010 film Peepli Live, was arrested on June 20 and has been in judicial custody since then. (Also Read: Peepli Live Co-Director Mahmood Farooqi Arrested for Allegedly Raping American Researcher )

Additional Sessions Judge Sanjiv Jain listed the matter for August 25, saying the court would also hear arguments on charges on the same day.

During the brief hearing, counsel for Mr Farooqui moved an application seeking inspection of a cell phone of the alleged victim saying that he needed to go through some text messages which she had sent to her friend, also a prosecution witness in the case.

"There is mention of text messages sent through the cell phone in the statements of victim and also a witness recorded under provisions of law but the call detail records which the police is relying upon does not show any such messages being sent," he said.

The counsel further said that if the police was relying upon the cell phone records of victims cell phone, then the accused was entitled to inspect the same.

Advocate Vrinda Grover, who appeared for the complainant, opposed the application of Mr Farooqui saying there was no provision under law that the accused was entitled to inspect the case property at the stage of framing of charge.

She said mere statements of the woman recorded under provisions of law were more than enough for framing of charges under section 376 (rape) of IPC against the accused.

The court said that if the case property was given to him for inspection, then there was every possibility of tampering.

"The cell phone is being analysed by the Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL) and the data is being retrieved from it in a hard disk. As soon as FSL comes out with a report it will be given to the accused," the court said while assuring Mr Farooqui's counsel that the copy of the report would be given to him before recording of complainant evidence.

On August 5, the magisterial court had committed the proceedings in a case to the sessions court.

The police had on June 29, filed the charge sheet against Mr Farooqui alleging that he had raped the 30-year-old research scholar from Colombia University at his Sukhdev Vihar house in south Delhi on March 28.

Police had also annexed medical reports of the woman and statements of more than a dozen witnesses including a common friend.

The woman, in her complaint filed at the New Friends colony police station, alleged that Mahmood Farooqui had raped her when she had gone to meet him to get his help for her research work.

She had claimed to have met Mr Farooqui at Varanasi where she had gone to collect information about her research theme based on Baba Gorakhnath.
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