In a blow to playback singer Ankit Tiwari of Aashiqui 2 fame, a special women’s court on Monday imposed a fine of Rs 5,000 on him after his lawyer sought time to argue on his discharge application in
In a blow to playback singer Ankit Tiwari of Aashiqui 2 fame, a special women’s court on Monday imposed a fine of Rs 5,000 on him after his lawyer sought time to argue on his discharge application in a rape case.
The court had issued a non-bailable warrant (NBW) against him after the singer failed to appear before the court on two consecutive hearings on April 20 and April 25; however, on the last date of hearing, the court granted stay on the NBW after Tiwari’s lawyer, Mahesh Vaswani, had sought relief from the arrest.
Though the special judge Anju Shende granted stay on the warrant, she had categorically stated that she would not cancel the NBW until the singer appeared before the court. Tiwari’s lawyer moved the discharge application soon after.
The judge had fixed May 4 for hearing the discharge application but later it was deferred till May 16. On Monday too the lawyer sought more time to argue on the discharge application. Upset with repeated request to defer the hearing on the application made by the accused, the judge imposed the fine on him and deferred hearing on the same till May 19.
A case of rape was registered against Tiwari after a 28-year-old married woman alleged the singer raped her on several occasions between 2012 and 2013.
The court had framed charge of rape against Tiwari in December last year and the singer challenged these charges. The high court had accepted his request and quashed charges against him and also gave him time to file a discharge application in the trial court.
In the application, Tiwari claimed that the complainant’s allegation in the written statement to the police and the FIR are different. It is further stated that the relationship between himself and the victim was consensual and that the allegation that he had made a video clip and threatened to make it public was false.
Tiwari’s brother Ankur was also arrested for allegedly threatening the victim.
