New Delhi: On the run from cops in Delhi for over 50 days now, a Mumbai-based television journalist accused of raping a woman in a five-star hotel here, has now been granted interim protection from arrest by the Delhi High Court, following an anticipatory bail plea filed by the accused, appealing a previous trial court order rejecting a similar plea.
However, the Delhi High Court said, "Petitioner be not arrested till the next date of hearing subject to him joining the investigation as and when directed." Justice Mukta Gupta issued notices and sought responses of Delhi Police and the complainant woman on journalist Varun Hiremath's plea seeking anticipatory bail in the case.
It asked the police to verify the documents to be given by the man and file a status report and listed the matter for further hearing on April 16.
Hiremath, represented through senior advocate Kapil Sibal, has approached the high court after his earlier anticipatory bail plea was dismissed by a trial court here on March 12.
The 22-year-old woman in her complaint alleged she was raped by Hiremath at a five-star hotel in Chanakyapuri on February 20.
The counsel for the 28-year-old man claimed before the court that there had been a history of previous sexual relationship between the accused and the complainant.
When advocate Siddharth Arora, representing the complainant, urged the court not to grant any protection to Hiremath as he has been on the run for last 50 days, the high court said if the man has documents to show that the relationship was consensual, let him join the investigation and police will verify it.
Prosecutor Tarang Srivastava accepted notice on behalf of Delhi Police.
The trial court, while rejecting the journalist's anticipatory bail plea, had said that consent cannot be implied from the complainant's previous experiences with the accused and if the woman stated in her evidence before the court that she did not consent, the court shall presume that she did not.
According to sources in the police department, Hiremath has been evading probe for over a month and that despite repeated attempts they were unable to reach him. One senior police official said that multiple attempts were made to contact the accused and even through family members and when that failed continuous raids were conducted.
"Later, several raids were conducted in multiple cities, including Mumbai, to nab the accused but he dodged the police," the official said adding that Hiremath's father owns a pharmaceutical company.
The Delhi Police had eventually issued a Look Out Circular against Hiremath, in an attempt to stop him from leaving the country. But after no luck finding him, the police had decided to announce a reward for information leading to his arrest. While this file has been moved for clearance from the Headquarters, it remains pending there.