Chinmayanand New Delhi/UNI: The Supreme Court on Thursday refused to grant former BJP leader Chinmayanand, accused in a rape case, access to a certified copy of the complainant's statement.
A bench headed by Justice UU Lalit and also comprising Vineet Saran and Ravindra Bhat, under Section 164 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC), set aside an order of the Allahabad High Court which allowed Chinmayanand, who was accused of sexual harassment and rape of a law student in Shahjahanpur, to access the certified statement of the complainant during the probe.
The bench also held that as per the terms of its previous judgment in 2014, a rape victim's statement should preferably be recorded within 24 hours directly before a lady magistrate.
On Sept 21, 2019, Chinmayanand was arrested by the Special Investigation Team and sent to jail. The 23-year-old law student was also booked on charges of extortion of Rs 5 crore from the former Union minister.
On Dec 6, the Allahabad High Court had granted bail to the law student, along with three others, who were booked on extortion charges.
The SIT, on Nov 6, had filed a chargesheet in both the rape and extortion case.
Chinmayanand, who is accused in the rape case, is still lodged in jail.
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