The Delhi High Court has upheld a sessions court order accepting a cancellation report filed by the police in a rape complaint against Bharatiya Janata Party leader Syed Shahnawaz Hussain, Live Law reported on Saturday.
Justice Neena Bansal Krishna passed an order on Friday that oral, documentary and scientific evidence had ruled out the possibility that Hussain intoxicated and raped the woman, Bar and Bench reported.
The High Court said that the evidence collected during the investigation had ruled out the presence of Hussain and the complainant on the date of the alleged incident at the place of alleged incident, PTI reported. “[Therefore,] the possibility of the commission of alleged offence is rendered zilch,” the order was quoted as saying.
The complainant alleged that in April 2018, Hussain took her to a farmhouse and raped her after lacing her cold drink with a sedative.
A magistrate had ordered the police to file a first information report, after which the former Union minister challenged the order in the High Court.
In August 2022, the High Court dismissed Hussain’s petition and noted that the police seemed reluctant to file the FIR.
In October, a magistrate refused to accept the police’s cancellation report in the matter saying that the trustworthiness of the woman’s claims could be tested during the trial. It also summoned Hussain in connection with the case.
The BJP leader approached the sessions court, which accepted the police’s report in December and quashed the summons.
The complaint had challenged the sessions court order in the High Court.
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