Jeetendra's sexual assault case: Himachal Pradesh HC quashes FIR, says complaint was "mala fide"

Last year, in February, a 47-year-old cousin of veteran actor Jeetendra, had filed a police complaint against the actor for sexually assaulting her in a hotel room in Shimla. She had claimed that the incident took place on the night of 1971 when she was 18 and Jeetendra was 28. However, the Himachal Pradesh High Court has quashed the FIR against the actor filed on February 16, 2018.

On Monday, Justice Ajay Mohan Goel, in his 26-page judgment, said that the complaint against the actor appears to be "vague" and "inherently absurd". He found the actor's contention credible that the woman's daughter was auditioned for a role by Balaji Motion Pictures Limited and was rejected. He added that the complaint against the actor was "mala fide" which do not provide ground for further proceedings against the accused.

According to the allegations by the complainant, Jeetendra called her to New Delhi in 1971, from where he arranged their travel to Shimla. He reportedly asked her to join him on the sets of a film he was shooting for. She said it was during their stay at a hotel in Shimla that Jeetendra one night entered her room in an inebriated state and forced himself upon her.

Jeetendra's lawyer had rubbished all the allegations terming them "baseless and ridiculous" and filed a petition seeking the quashing of the FIR which said that the woman (Jeetendra's cousin) was unhappy with his family for selecting her daughter for a role.

After accessing the records, the court found that the woman's daughter had indeed given an audition for the production house and was rejected.

"This lends credibility to the contention that the lodging of the FIR was an act of mala fide and a result of the daughter of his cousin having been rejected," the court told PTI.

"The contents of the complaint are "vague". They lead to the conclusion that the allegations are "so absurd and inherently improbable, on the basis of which, no prudent person can ever reach a just conclusion that there is sufficient ground for proceeding against the accused", the judge said.