The Delhi High Court on Wednesday dismissed self-styled preacher Daati Maharaj’s plea for review of its decision transferring the probe in a rape case against him to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).
A Bench of Chief Justice Rajendra Menon and Justice V.K. Rao rejected Maharaj’s plea seeking review of the court’s October 3 order by which the case against him was transferred to the CBI from the Delhi Police Crime Branch.
The court’s October 3 order came on the plea of woman who had alleged she was sexually assaulted by the preacher. The High Court had said the manner in which the probe was carried out by police “casts a shadow on the investigation”.
A complaint was filed against Daati Madan Lal alias Daati Maharaj on June 7 and an FIR was registered on June 11. On June 22, police questioned the accused, who has been charged with rape of a disciple at his ashrams in Delhi and Rajasthan.
‘Being framed’
The accused has claimed he was being framed in the case.
The complainant has filed the case against the preacher, his three brothers and a woman at Fatehpur Beri police station in south Delhi. The case was later transferred to the crime branch.
In her petition before the single judge of the High Court, she had claimed that the accused and his associates were interrogated by the crime branch on different dates but were not arrested.
The case was transferred to the division bench after a public interest litigation (PIL) on the issue was filed.
The Delhi Police had told the Bench that its probe into the case was not partisan as alleged by the victim and added that the preacher was interrogated eight times during the investigation.