Controversy surrounding Mumbai model's rape allegations gets murkier

In a new twist to the alleged rape case against Mumbai Deputy Inspector General (DIG) Sunil Paraskar, the prosecution lawyer Chitra Salunkhe today claimed to have a recorded audio clip of model's former lawyer Rizwan Siddiqui offering her money to withdraw the case.

"I have the recording where Rizwan Siddiqui suggests offering money to victim and asking her to forget about the case. The audio conversation was recorded on July 18, 2014," said Salunkhe.

Senior advocate and women's rights activist Abha Singh also criticized Siddiqui for releasing private conversation between a lawyer and a client and said that he should be suspended.

"DIG Sunil Paraskar's rape case in which the model has alleged that he has been raped has taken an alarming turn with her lawyer Rizwn Siddiqui going to the media and releasing the privileged private communication of a client with a lawyer, this violates Section 126 of the Indian Evidence Act, which says that a client-lawyer relationship is private fiduciary, and it is sacrosanct, the Bar Council of Maharashtra should suspend Rizwan Siddiqui because it's a slap to the lawyer profession," said Singh.

She also questioned as to why the Director General of Police (DGP) Sanjeev Dayal is quiet about getting Paraskar suspended.

Earlier today, Siddiqui had told ANI that he quit the case because his client was not firm about her allegations and was changing her statements too frequently for comfort.

He said, "The briefing I got earlier was different and later when I realized that my client had not shared complete information with me. The case was being filed for publicity and to get into a reality show. It's on record and I have submitted it the police."

"When I saw that there were so many changes in the client's stance and she was not firm, I decided that I don't want to be a part of this controversy and backed out of it," Siddiqui added.

A Mumbai model had accused DIG Sunil Paraskar of raping her on several occasions and he was later booked by the Mumbai police under Indian Penal Code Sections 376(2)(rape by a police officer), 376 C (intercourse by superintendent of jail, remand home, etc) and 354 (D) (stalking).