Mumbai: The Bombay high court on Wednesday granted anticipatory bail to BJP leader Ganesh Naik, booked by the Navi Mumbai police for raping and threatening his live-in partner. The court held that the relationship between Naik and the complainant was consensual and the offence of rape was not made out against the former minister.
A single bench of Justice Anuja Prabhudessai said considering that the relationship was consensual, “prima facie essential ingredients of the offence of rape are not made out”.
Appearing for Naik, advocate Niteen Pradhan submitted that there was no evidence to incriminate the 72-year-old BJP leader for the alleged offences and the allegations were concocted due to strong political pressure. Pradhan submitted that the FIRs were filed with mala fide intention and an ulterior motive to malign his image and harm his reputation. Pradhan added that the relationship is admittedly consensual and a male child is born out of it hence the offence of rape was not made out against Naik.
Opposing his plea, the prosecution submitted that Naik was avoiding the woman and was not taking her calls and when she confronted him in his office, he pulled out his revolver and threatened to kill her and her son and also end his own life.
After hearing the submissions, the bench referred to the woman’s supplementary statement to the police which revealed that they were in a relationship from 1995 to 2017. “She has stated that her family members did not approve of the relationship, and they got her married to some other person under duress. She divorced the said person in 2001 and continued the relationship with the applicant (Naik),” the bench noted.
The court then allowed the ABA and directed that in the event of arrest, Naik be released on furnishing a personal bond of ₹25,000 in each case and asked him to appear before the police on Monday and Tuesday and also directed him to surrender his revolver within a week.
Two separate FIRs have been registered against Naik at Nerul and CBD Belapur police stations last month after the woman wrote to the Nerul police station claiming that though she had been in a live-in relationship with Naik for 27 years, he had threatened her with a firearm and restrained her from disclosing about it to anyone.
The former Maharashtra minister has been booked by Nerul police station for offences punishable under sections 376 (2) (n) (committing rape repeatedly on the same woman) and under sections 417 (cheating) and by the CBD police station under sections 506 (criminal intimidation) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and sections of the Arms Act.
Naik had approached the HC apprehending arrest in the Nerul case after the Thane sessions court rejected his anticipatory bail application.
According to the complaint filed at the CBD Belapur police station, the woman claimed that she had been in a live-in relationship with Naik for over 27 years and alleged that in 2021 Naik had threatened her with a firearm. The FIR was registered after an inquiry was ordered by the DCP based on a written application by the woman to the Nerul police.
As per the complaint, in 2006, the woman had become pregnant and travelled to New Jersey, USA, on the insistence of Naik and gave birth to their child. The woman alleged that Naik had assured her that he would give his name to the child and would also reside with the child and the complainant, but failed to keep his word. The woman added that she had not filed a complaint earlier as Naik was a minister and an influential politician.