Bhandarkar will be put on trial in rape case

A city court on Wednesday (Nov 11) ruled that film maker Madhur Bhandarkar will stand trial for allegedly raping model-turned-actress Priti Jain, five years after her complaint to the police.

The court's ruling came after it held that the first information report (FIR) Priti Jain filed against Bhandarkar was not false, as he had contended, Priti's counsel Sushan Kunjuraman said.

"The proposal of B-Summary case was filed by the Varsova police station investigating officer in the Andheri court, saying that the rape case filed by Priti Jain may be declared as false," Sushan Kunjuraman told IANS. B-Summary means that during the investigations, the investigating officer found Priti Jain's FIR to be false.

"So, for the same to be declared as false, the investigating officer presented the B-Summary before the court. Thereafter, Priti was issued a notice along with the copy of B-summary and directed to defend herself. Priti filed return statement against B-summary, saying that it is not sustainable in rape cases."

"After observing the written argument submitted by Priti Jain, the court upheld that the contention of Priti Jain and the FIR is genuine, and the process (of trial) can be issued against the accused (Bhandarkar)," said Kunjuraman.

The next hearing is slated for Dec 22. "On that day, Priti Jain's statement will be recorded. She will also be submitting details of threatening SMSes sent to her by Madhur Bhandarkar, and some other evidences," said Kunjuraman.

The aspiring actress had in her complaint to the police in 2004 alleged that Bhandarkar and she "had sex 16 times between 1999 and 2004".

"Madhur had promised to give me a lead role in his films. However, he didn't offer me a lead role in any of his movies. At times when I refused, he raped me," she alleged in her complaint then.

Bhandarkar made three films in the five years that he knew Jain - "Chandni Bar", "Satta" and "Aan" - and she complained that she had no role in any of them. "Bhandarkar's forthcoming movie, 'Page 3', also does not feature me," she had told reporters soon after filing her case.

Priti also claimed that Bhandarkar had promised to marry her and make her a star.

Indo-Asian News Service