The Bombay high court on August 23 issued a notice to the state on a petition filed by Aditya Pancholi to quash a 2019 FIR on a rape complaint filed by an actress. The direction was given by a bench headed by Justice Nitin Jamdar.
Pancholi’s petition said that in the last three years, the Versova (Bombay) police station had not filed a chargesheet and that it ought to have filed a closure report. His lawyer argued that his client had been living with the stigma of the prosecution and “a sword is perpetually hanging over his head”.
The bench issued a notice to the state and also to Aditya. It directed the police to inform it about the investigation, which was initiated in 2019. The actress had alleged that Aditya Pancholi had drugged and raped her when she came to Bombay to become an actress. She had further alleged that between 2004 and 2006, he put up at different places and physically and mentally abused her.