New Delhi: A Delhi court today granted interim bail to “Peepli Live” co-director Mahmood Farooqui, facing trial for the alleged rape of an American researcher, on the ground of his father’s illness.
Additional Sessions Judge Sanjiv Jain granted interim bail of 15 days to Farooqui, who had yesterday moved an application seeking the relief, on the condition that he will not leave the capital without court’s permission.
The court, while granting the relief, also asked Farooqui to furnish Rs one lakh personal bond and one surety of the like amount.
In his application for interim bail, Farooqui contended that he needed to be with his father who has been suffering from bleeding haemorrhoids and has been advised surgery.
However, Additional Public Prosecutor Mohd Iqrar opposed the application saying Farooqui need not be granted bail as there are other family members to take care of his father.
In his application, Farooqui had said that there was no threat to the researcher or any other witness and that when he was earlier granted bail for four days, he neither misused the liberty nor try to influence witnesses.
The court, meanwhile, also concluded recording the statement of the investigating officer in the case.
The court had earlier recorded the statements of the woman, her friends, a magistrate who had recorded the researcher’s statement under section 164 CrPC, officials of the police and forensic department, who appeared as prosecution witnesses in the case.
On September 9, the court had started the trial in the case after framing charges of rape under section 376 (rape) of IPC against Farooqui, who has denied all charges against him.
The police had on June 19 lodged the FIR against Farooqui on the complaint of the woman after which the filmmaker was arrested.
On June 29, a charge sheet was filed against Farooqui alleging he had raped the 30-year-old research scholar from Colombia University at his Sukhdev Vihar house in south Delhi on March 28.
–PTI