The Bombay High Court recently refused to grant anticipatory bail to Mumbai-based ET Now anchor and analyst Varun Hiremath, who is accused of raping a 22-year-old woman from Pune in a hotel in Delhi last month.
A single bench of Justice PD Naik heard the transit pre-arrest petition on 1 March and dismissed it on the same day. Justice Naik in his order said, “The applicant may approach the appropriate court. I’m not willing to give such relief in the instant case.” Which was made available on Monday.
The court, however, clarified that it was not dismissing the application on merit.
The 28-year-old Hiremath is the anchor of the daily show “Markets with ET Now“. He was booked under sections 376 (punishment for rape offense), 342 (punishment for wrongful imprisonment) and 509 (words, gestures or intent to insult a woman’s modesty) of the IPC, lodged at Chanakyapuri police station In the FIR.
In her complaint and statement before a magistrate, the woman alleged that she was raped by Hiremath on February 20 at a five-star hotel in Chanakyapuri. The Delhi Police has issued a lookout circular against him, prohibiting him from leaving the country.
