Rape case: Builder gets bail after complainant offers settlement

Ankush Makharia, the accused; (right) The court had rejected his bail plea twice before. Representation pic

The sessions court has granted bail to a 47-year-old builder accused of rape after he submitted audio recordings of the complainant's lawyer demanding Rs 20 lakh to settle the case.

"After going through material proofs in hand, the session judge granted bail to my client [Ankush Makharia]. He was behind bars for 10 months. The same court in the past had rejected his bail twice due to an existing similar case from 2015 by another woman," Advocate Ali Kaashif Khan Deshmukh said.

The court order was made available on April 1. The Oshiwara police booked Makharia in April 2022 on the charge of raping a woman on the pretext of marrying her. It was also alleged that he cheated her of Rs 4 lakh and assaulted, abused and threatened her.

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According to the complainant's statement, she met Makharia in 2017, when she was 34. In October 2017, she received a phone call from a woman claiming to be Makharia's wife. She then confronted Makharia about her and he said they were getting a divorce and that the case was pending in court.

The complainant said Makharia promised to marry after their divorce and even introduced her to his family friends and parents. He would also ask for money due to his poor economic condition, she alleged.

In 2018, she learnt that he had a daughter and a son, but Makharia claimed they were adopted, she told police. When the complainant insisted on getting married, Makharia gave excuses. She ended their relationship in 2020, and lodged a complaint on April 6, 2022.

Makharia's lawyer Deshmukh argued in the court that the woman is trying to extort money from him. There can be no case of rape, as the sexual relationship was consensual, he said.

He also submitted WhatsApp messages the woman sent Makharia. On March 9, 2021, she asked the accused to give her Rs 3,75,245 and threatened to increase the amount if he delayed, he told the court. On November 27, 2021, she threatened to file a complaint if he did not pay. "Return full money or FIR next Monday," reads one of the messages.

He argued that the messages show that the complaint was filed with an ulterior motive to extort money, as there was no mention of marriage in the WhatsApp chats. His ex-wife had filed a complaint against the woman in 2019 for allegedly assaulting her, Deshmukh told the court.

Since December 2022, she had been demanding Rs 20 lakh from Makharia to settle the case outside of court, his lawyer said.

Makharia's friend recorded the conversation between the two lawyers and submitted the recording before the Bar Council of Maharashtra along with a complaint against the woman's counsel.

Advocate M Bodke, who appeared as an intervener for the woman, told the court that the accused had initiated the talks for settlement through his friend on January 2, 2023.

The court took into consideration all the submissions and also that the woman stayed in the relationship despite learning about his wife and children. "The court found that the subsequent events pointed out by the accused showed a change in circumstance, and the case for bail was made out," the order reads.