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Won’t interfere in HC order on Mahmood Farooqui: Supreme Court

Farooqui, she said, took the plea before the High Court that it was a consensual act, though he never adopted such a stand before the trial court.

Filmmaker Farooqui 

The Supreme Court Friday declined to interfere with the Delhi High Court order acquitting Peepli Live co-director Mahmood Farooqui of rape charges, levelled by a US-based researcher. Dismissing the woman’s appeal, a bench of Justice S A Bobde and Justice L Nageswara Rao raised questions regarding an e-mail she had written to the accused after the alleged incident.

“You have written ‘I love you’, and this too after the incident took place. Which rape victim writes ‘I love you’ to her assailant,” the bench asked advocate Vrinda Grover, who tried to impress upon the court to issue notice to the accused. The counsel contended that the victim had opposed sexual advances made by Farooqui.

The court also questioned the conduct of the parties. “How many times did she meet him prior to this incident? How many times did they have drinks together and how many times did she or he make drinks,” the bench asked. However, it clarified: “We do not mean to say that meetings in the past would mean giving up your right to say no.”

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To Grover’s submission that having drinks with a man does not affirm consent to physical relations, the bench said: “We are not judging on that.” When the counsel said the issue was whether there was any consent, the bench observed that there appeared to be a “positive response”, which, according to her, was faked.

“People give false smiles. How would the other person know that it’s a false response? This is difficult to understand,” the bench said, adding that “she appeared to have responded in a positive manner”.

Festive offer

Grover also pointed to the legal infirmities in the HC verdict. Farooqui, she said, took the plea before the High Court that it was a consensual act, though he never adopted such a stand before the trial court. Both the trial court and the HC found the woman a “sterling witness” but yet the HC refused to believe her contention, the counsel argued. But the bench said, “Such cases are hard cases to be decided in criminal law. It (the Delhi HC order) is a well-reasoned order and we think it does not require our interference.”

On June 19, 2015, police had registered an FIR against Farooqui on the complaint by the woman. She had alleged that Farooqui raped her on March 28, 2015, at his Sukhdev Vihar house.

First uploaded on: 20-01-2018 at 05:08 IST
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