The Supreme Court on Monday rejected a petition filed by senior BJP leader and former union minister Syed Shahnawaz Hussain seeking the quashing of an alleged rape FIR filed against him in Delhi based on a woman’s complaint.
“Let’s there be a fair investigation and, if there is nothing, it will exonerate you,” a Bench led by Justice S Ravindra Bhat told senior advocates Mukul Rohatgi and Siddharth Luthra, who represented Hussain. While dismissing the plea filed by Shahnawaz Hussain the Top court observed that, “We find no reason to interfere”.
The senior BJP politician had challenged the Delhi High Court’s ruling on August 17, 2022, in which high court had dismissed his plea challenging a trial court order instructing the Delhi Police to register a FIR against him.
During the hearing Senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi argued that “There are complaints after complaints which were investigated by the police and nothing was found. It cannot go on and on. There was a “series of consistent attacks” against Hussain, he added.
A Delhi woman had moved the lower court for the filing of a FIR against Hussain for rape. On July 7, 2018, Delhi court ordered registration of a FIR against Hussain, citing the woman’s complaint as evidence of a cognizable offence.
Hussain challenged the magisterial court’s ruling at a sessions court, which also dismissed his plea. The Delhi high court stayed the lower court’s order directing the Delhi Police to register the FIR on July 13, 2018. The HC vacated the stay on August 17, 2022.
