Dr Viral Desai granted anticipatory bail

Noted cosmetic surgeon Dr Viral Desai from Mumbai, who was accused by a television actress of rape in August last year, has been granted anticipatory bail by the Mumbai Sessions Court.

The complainant had filed a complaint against Dr Viral Desai, alleging that he tried to sexually assault her in his clinic on August 9, 2019. Based on the complaint, a case of rape was registered.

Dr Viral Desai has claimed that he and the complainant were in a consensual relationship and that she had purposefully misrepresented the facts in her complaint. He submitted evidence in the form of photographs and WhatsApp messages exchanged with the complainant, which showed that he and the complainant were in a consensual relationship since last few years.

Dr Desai drew the attention of the court to the fact that immediately after the alleged incident of rape, the complainant herself took the doctor for dinner to a restaurant from his clinic and continued to chat with him on a regular basis.

Additional Sessions Judge Kalpana S Hore granted relief to Dr Desai on November 19, 2019.

Dr Desai's counsel, Parvez Memon, senior partner of MZM Legal, pointed out to the court that the complainant is a forty-two-year-old actress who is going through a troubled marriage and is amidst a divorce case in the family court. There cannot have been a relationship on the basis of a promise of marriage since the complainant was already married, argued Memon.

"We are happy with the order of the anticipatory bail passed by the court. This is the triumph of truth and justice over falsehood and malice. The complainant has resorted to abuse the process of law with ulterior motives which was exposed by us in court through cogent evidence suggesting a consensual relationship," said Memon.

In a related development, on September 3, 2019, the City Civil Court had restrained the actress from publishing defamatory material against Dr Desai on social media.

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