No coercive action against Rakhi Sawant till tomorrow: Bombay High Court orders in outraging of modesty case

The Bombay High Court on Monday gave interim protection from arrest to model-celebrity Rakhi Sawant until tomorrow, in a defamation and outraging of modesty case filed against her by another model. .The order was passed on a plea by Sawant seeking anticipatory bail.After being informed that the Investigating Officer (IO) in the case was not present before Court today, single-judge Justice MS Karnik said that he would hear the matter tomorrow. "I will hear you in the presence of IO tomorrow," Justice Karnik said."In the meantime protection may be granted," Sawant's counsel requested. "Yes, do not take action against her till tomorrow," the Court ordered, in turn. .The prosecution case was based on a complaint by a model who alleged that on October 31, 2022, Sawant had shown some videos of the complainant and made defamatory statements. The complainant also claimed that the video, shown to the media, was sexually explicit. .The State today submitted before the High Court that while Sawant had submitted her mobile phone, this was done only after her anticipatory bail plea was rejected by a Sessions Court and after deleting evidence. "Initially she attended (investigation) ... then application was rejected, then again she gave her mobile phone. But she gave after deleting the alleged explicit video clip ... So I have suggested that Section 201 of IPC - which is destruction of evidence. If there is material to be investigated, then she should have kept it," the APP told the High Court. .Countering the submission, Sawant's counsel told the Court,"Those videos are available on public domain like YouTube and Google. It is not like she has created those videos.".The Court, however, did not hear the matter in further detail after noting that the IO was not present.The Court also asked Sawant’s lawyer to inform by tomorrow if she had deleted any alleged defamatory videos before handing over her mobile device for investigation..Sawant has been booked for offences under Sections 354(A) (outraging modesty of a woman), 500 (defamation), 504 (criminal intimidation), 509 (intent of provoking breach) and 34 (common intention) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) along with Section 67(A) of the Information and Technology Act (IT Act)..In her anticipatory bail plea, Sawant has contended that apart from 67(A), IT Act, all other sections are bailable. She pointed out that the IT Act Section is also applicable only when the sexually explicit material is published or transmitted in electronic form.There was no such allegation of either publication or transmission of the said material, Sawant stated. .Sawant had earlier approached the Mumbai Sessions Court at Dindoshi seeking anticipatory bail. Countering the plea, the State had contended that Sawant had failed to handover her phone for investigation when an opportunity had been granted to her.The anticipatory bail plea was rejected by sessions judge SY Bhosale on January 18. While rejecting the plea, the judge observed that no case for anticipatory bail had been made out by Sawant. "Prima facie material is available against the applicant and she is not cooperating the investigation agency when the opportunity was given to her", the Court observed..Sawant was, thereafter, detained in Mumbai for questioning on January 19. However, she had been let off the same evening. She then approached the High Court on the next day seeking anticipatory bail. .[Read our Live Coverage of the hearing today]