Mumbai: Rape accused let off due to 4-min delay by cops

The Andheri Metropolitan Court has released film director producer and financer Gunwant Tarachand Jain also known as Nikesh Madhani after ruling his arrest by the Versova police was illegal Madhani was accused of drugging and raping a 38yearold model and actress during a photoshoot The courtrsquos order was issued before the victim could undergo a medical examinationProcedural lapses prompted the court to declare the arrest unlawful Representation picistockAccording to police sources Madhani allegedly spiked the victimrsquos drink sexually assaulted her and used videos of the act for blackmail He was arrested on November 21 2024 under Sections 3762n 328 and 506 of the Indian Penal Code IPC However discrepancies in the arrest process led to the courtrsquos ruling against its legalityCourt observationsThe court noted that Madhani was arrested at 1056 pm on November 21 but the police informed him and his friend Junaid Ishak Khan of the grounds for arrest only at 1100 pmmdashfour minutes after the arrest This sequence of events violated Section 47 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita BNSS which mandates that the grounds for arrest must be communicated beforehand Additionally the arrest panchnama revealed that Madhanirsquos family members were not informed about his detention further violating procedural requirements These lapses prompted the court to declare the arrest unlawful citing a breach of the accusedrsquos fundamental rightsCourt proceedingsMadhani was produced before the court on November 22 at 320 pm Investigating Officer PSI Sandip Nikam sought police custody arguing that the accused required medical examination and further evidence collection However the defence counsel challenged the legality of the arrest leading the court to review case records including the FIR and the arrest documentation The FIR was lodged at the police station on November 21 at 11 am and registered at 549 pm The court found that the arrest violated legal provisions including failure to follow the mandatory process under BNSSPolice responseSenior Police Inspector Gajanan Pawar of Versova police station acknowledged the procedural errors ldquoThe procedure was not followed under BNSS which led to this mistake We will arrest the accused again while adhering to the standard legal procedure The case remains under investigationrdquoVictimrsquos responseldquoIrsquom genuinely surprised that the court released the accused Even the lawyers in the courtroom were discussing how they had never seen or heard of such a verdict in years Itrsquos clear to me that the police are protecting the accused They intentionally omitted a crucial point raised by the accusedrsquos lawyer during the hearing Otherwise this isnrsquot the first arrest made by these officers Theyrsquove arrested numerous individuals before issued notices and successfully presented cases in court These are experienced professionals who know exactly what to do and what not to dordquoAccused SpeakldquoI share a familial bond with her and her husband I promoted her as a lead in music albums Her claim that I raped her in March is shocking especially since we continued working together until August These baseless accusations have ruined my reputationrdquo said MadhaniLawyer SpeakldquoAs per Supreme Court case Prabir Purkayastha and Pankaj Bansal it is mandatory to communicate the grounds for arrest in writing to the accused Failure to do so constitutes a violation of the accusedrsquos fundamental rights guaranteed under Articles 21 and 22 of the Constitution of India This requirement was established under the old Section 50 of the CrPC and is reiterated in the new Section 47 of the BNSSrdquo said Advocate Akhilesh ShuklaWhat the sections meanSection 471 and 2 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita BNSS 2023Section 471 Police officers or others arresting a person without a warrant must immediately inform the individual of the full particulars of the offence or other grounds for arrestSection 472 If a person accused of a bailable offence is arrested without a warrant the officer must inform the individual that they are entitled to bail and can arrange for suretiesSection 48 of the BNSS 2023gtgt Inform relatives or friends Police must notify the arrested personrsquos relatives or friends about the arrest and their locationgtgt Inform the arrested person Police must promptly inform the individual of their rights upon being brought to the stationgtgt Document notification The officer must record who was informed of the arrest in a register kept at the stationgtgt Magistratersquos verification A Magistrate must ensure that these requirements are met before the arrested individual is produced in courtWhat Sec 47 SaysEvery police officer arresting any person shall communicate to him the full particulars of the offence for which he is arrested or other grounds for making such an arrest