Mumbai Court grants interim protection from arrest to Rakhi Sawant in FIR by ex-husband Adil Durrani

A Mumbai court Wednesday granted interim protection from arrest to actress and model Rakhi Sawant in a case filed by her former husband, Adil Durrani who accused Sawant of circulating his private, sexually explicit videos on media channels..Sessions judge SY Bhosale today granted relief to Sawant in an anticipatory bail application filed by Sawant. The Mumbai police filed its reply to the application today and sought a date for the hearing of the case. Durrani also sought time to respond to Sawant's application. The Court said that if the hearing has to be adjourned at the instance of the complainant, then Sawant ought to be protected. "The Advocate for the intervener (Durrani) is seeking time to file say. The Prosecution has already filed the say. In such circumstances, if the matter is to be adjourned on the instance of informant then it is just and proper to protect the applicant till next date. The IO is therefore directed not to take any coercive steps against the applicant till next date," the court ordered today..Durrani's allegation is that Sawant violated his right to privacy by circulating explicit videos of him. A first information report (FIR) was, therefore, lodged under Sections 500 (defamation) and 34 (common intention) of the Indian Penal Code and Section 67A (publishing sexually explicit material in electronic form) of the Information Technology Act. Sawant then approached a Mumbai court through advocate Ali Kaashif Khan seeking anticipatory bail.She contended that the videos were shot by Durrani himself on his own phone and that he had failed to disclose this to the police. She also claimed that Durrani had suppressed his criminal antecedents in the FIR. "Sawant has never taken any alleged photos or videos of Durrani. In fact, it is crucial to note that Durrani has a history of recording himself engaging in lascivious activities. It is evident that he has no locus standi to file an FIR in the present case as he himself has shot the photos and videos and he is the creator of the same," Sawant's application stated. .The prosecution meanwhile opposed Sawant's application stating they were yet to investigate the source of publications of these videos.The police also pointed out that there was another co-accused in the case who has to be investigated. Their reply further highlighted that the devices used for publishing the objectionable content were yet to be procured. Therefore, granting relief to Sawant may lead to tampering with witnesses and evidence, the police said. After hearing the rival arguments, the Court granted Sawant interim protection from arrest and adjourned the hearing.