NEW DELHI: The Delhi High Court has refused to stay the trial court proceedings and quashed the chargesheet which was framed in an alleged rape case against 71-year-old P P Madhavan, the personal secretary of senior Congress leader Sonia Gandhi.
Though Madhavan’s plea was declined, the single judge bench of Justice Dinesh Kumar Sharma, however, granted time for him and the state to file responses in the matter. In the meantime, the case against him is pending before Additional Sessions Judge, Dwarka, for “evidence” on January 25. Madhavan was seeking the quashing of the charges against him framed by the trial court on September 14, 2022.
His plea contended that incidents were fabricated by the woman as they occurred on an “unsaid and random date not specified by the complainant”. Defending the charges alleged by the Delhi Police, the septuagenarian stated that the cops “failed to appreciate that the chargesheet was contrary to the evidence on record”.
As per chargesheet, the location of the phones of both Madhavan and the woman was not found at the places of occurrences of the alleged sexual assault, the plea mentioned. The chargesheet shows that the woman was unable to produce any evidence in support of her claim and the trial court “erroneously” framed charges, it stated.
According to the complainant, Madhavan, 71, raped her after calling for a job interview. He also allegedly promised to marry her. The complaint says the woman’s late husband used to work at the Delhi office of the Congress. “I started looking for a job in February 2020 after my husband’s passing and contacted Madhavan. He called me for an interview. He used to talk to me on WhatsApp and conduct video calls,” she said in the complaint.