The Delhi High Court has upheld the decision to accept the cancellation report filed by police in the rape case against BJP leader Syed Shahnawaz Hussain, effectively dismissing the allegations made against him. The court, led by Justice Neena Bansal Krishna, confirmed that there was no fault in the decision originally made by the Additional Sessions Judge (ASJ) in December 2023, which concluded that the allegations could not be substantiated by evidence.
The case stemmed from accusations by a complainant who alleged that in April 2018, she was drugged and raped by Hussain at a farmhouse in New Delhi. Following these allegations, the police initially filed an FIR but later sought to cancel it after their investigation did not corroborate the complainant’s claims. This move was contested in court, with the magisterial court initially taking cognizance of the complaint and summoning Hussain.
However, this decision was overturned by the sessions court in December 2023, which agreed with the cancellation report’s findings, leading to the complainant’s subsequent appeal to the high court.
In its detailed review, the high court noted the comprehensive investigation carried out, which included independent ocular, documentary, and scientific evidence. This evidence conclusively determined that both Hussain and the complainant were not present at the alleged location on the date of the incident, thereby ruling out the possibility of the alleged offence.
Justice Krishna, in her ruling, emphasized the importance of the principle “innocent until proven guilty” and the high standard required to establish guilt beyond reasonable doubt. She remarked that the system’s priority should lean more towards protecting the innocent than punishing the guilty without adequate proof.
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The case has seen various legal challenges over the years, including a Supreme Court decision in January 2023 that refused to interfere with an earlier high court directive to investigate the allegations. Despite the initial registration of the FIR in July 2018 following the complainant’s plea, the subsequent legal proceedings have culminated in the current dismissal of the charges.
