New Delhi : The Delhi High Court has upheld an order accepting cancellation report filed by the police in a complaint filed against BJP leader Syed Shahnawaz Hussain alleging rape and criminal intimidation.
Justice Neena Bansal Krishna said there was no infirmity in the order passed by the additional sessions judge (ASJ) and dismissed the revision petition filed by the complainant challenging the December 2023 order.
In the present case, the overwhelming independent ocular, documentary and scientific evidence collected during the investigations, whereby the presence of the respondent no.2 (Hussain) and complainant on the date of the alleged incident at the place of alleged incident is completely ruled out, the possibility of the commission of alleged offence is rendered zilch.
In view of the foregoing discussions, there is no infirmity in the impugned order dated December 16, 2023 and the revision petition is hereby dismissed, the high court said in the order which was passed on Friday and made available on Saturday.
The complainant had alleged that she was administered an intoxicant by Hussain who then raped her at a farmhouse in the national capital in April 2018.
The police had filed a report before the court seeking cancellation of the FIR.
The cancellation report was not approved by the magisterial court, which had taken cognisance of the alleged offence and summoned Hussain in the case.
The order was challenged before a sessions court, which set aside the magisterial court's order and accepted the cancellation report on December 16, 2023.
Aggrieved by the order, the complainant approached the high court and filed a revision petition.
'Innocent until proven guilty' coupled with the rigorous standard of establishing guilt beyond a reasonable doubt', forms the foundational tenet of our criminal justice administration. The acquittal of guilty individuals, while regrettable, is a lesser evil compared to the horror of condemning the blameless. When the delicate scales of justice are tipped with utmost care, protecting' will always weigh more than punishing', the high court said.
The Supreme Court had in January 2023 dismissed Hussain's plea challenging an order of the Delhi High Court for lodging the First Information Report (FIR) and launching an investigation.
The apex court had refused to interfere with the high court order and said all remedies available under the law were open for Hussain.
The high court had on August 17, 2022 dismissed Hussain's plea challenging a trial court order directing the Delhi Police to register an FIR against him, saying there was no perversity in the 2018 order. In 2018, a Delhi-based woman had approached a lower court seeking registration of an FIR against Hussain for alleged rape, a charge the BJP leader denied.
A magisterial court had on July 7, 2018 ordered registration of an FIR against Hussain, saying a cognisable offence was made out in the complaint. The order was challenged by the BJP leader before a sessions court which had dismissed his plea.
