SC Notice To Bollywood Producer Karim Morani, Telangana Police On Rape Survivor’s Plea To Cancel Bail

A Supreme Court bench headed by Chief Justice of India (CJI) has issued notice to Bollywood producer Karim Morani, who is an accused in an alleged rape case, and the Telangana state police on a petition filed by the rape survivor seeking cancellation of bail granted to him by the Andhra Pradesh High Court in November last year.

The high court had granted him regular bail on November 17, 2017, after he surrendered before the police in September last year. This was after the apex court had refused to interfere with the AP HC order rejecting his plea for anticipatory bail.

However, in November, Morani was granted regular bail.

According to survivor’s counsel Karuna Nundy, Morani had sedated the Delhi-based woman and raped her several times, took her nude photos between July 2015 and January 2016, and later threatened her to make them public.
The 25 year-old woman lodged a complaint with the Hayathnagar police under Rachakonda police commissionerate in January last year alleging the producer had repeatedly raped her in Mumbai and film city in Hyderabad.

Following the complaint, the producer was booked under IPC sections 417 (punishment for cheating), 376 (rape), 342 (wrongful confinement), 506 (criminal intimidation), 493 (cohabitation caused by a man deceitfully inducing a belief of lawful marriage) and other relevant sections of the Code.

Prayers in the petition 

i)   Pass ex parte ad-interim stay of operation of order dated 17.11.2017 passed by the Hon’ble High Court of Judicature at Hyderabad for the State of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh; and

ii)  ​Pass such other and further orders as may be deemed fit and proper in the facts and circumstances of the case in the interest of justice.