What's the 2019 rape case surrounding Aditya Pancholi
What's the story
Bollywood actor Aditya Pancholi has approached the Bombay High Court seeking to quash a rape FIR filed against him in 2019. The actor's lawyer Prashant Patil argued that the complaint was lodged nearly 15 years after the alleged incident, questioning the delay, and called the allegations "malicious." The court heard Pancholi's petition on Thursday. A female Bollywood actor had accused the Saathi actor of rape.
Legal arguments
Pancholi's lawyer cited old Supreme Court judgment
Patil also cited the Supreme Court's Bhajan Lal judgment, which provides guidelines on when criminal proceedings can be thrown out. He told the court that before the first information report was registered, a person had met Pancholi and they have a recording of that meeting. This clip has been submitted before the court to support Pancholi's claim that the complaint was filed with wrongful intent.
Investigation delay
Complainant yet to appear for investigation
During the hearing, the public prosecutor informed the bench that the complainant had not appeared before the police for investigation despite 11 notices being sent to her. In light of this, the High Court issued a fresh notice directing her to appear on February 24, 2026, which is the next hearing date. The FIR was registered at Mumbai's Versova Police Station under IPC Section 376 (rape) and other sections.
Previous attempts
Pancholi had sought dismissal of FIR in 2022, too
This isn't the first time Pancholi has approached the court to quash an FIR. In 2022, he had also sought the dismissal of the FIR and a direction for police to inform him about the progress made in the probe into his case. Since 2019, he has maintained that he's been "falsely implicated" in this case.