#MeToo: Aditya Pancholi gets interim relief from arrest, next hearing on July 19

Two days after Aditya Pancholi filed for a anticipatory bail in the Dindoshi sessions court, the actor-producer was granted interim relief from arrest. The 54-year-old was booked by Mumbai's Versova Police Station on charges of rape filed by a popular Bollywood actress. Seeking a pre-arrest bail, Pancholi's lawyer Prashant Patil claimed that the actress lied in her complaint. He noted that the actress had faked her date of birth in her complaint and passport and such discrepancies were indicative of 'her intention to lie'.

Patil continued to say that the complainant waited for 15 years after the alleged crime, and filed the case only after Pancholi received an order in his favour from the magistrate's court under a defamation case he filed against her.

The police opposed the plea for anticipatory bail.

Judge HB Gaikwad adjourned the hearing to July 19 and granted Pancholi interim relief. If he is arrested during this period, he must be released on an interim bail until further orders on executing a personal bond of Rs 30,000, the judge said.

The suburban Versova Police has registered a case against Pancholi under IPC sections 376 (rape), 323 (assault), 328 (causing hurt by means of poison) and 384 (extortion).

The woman has accused, among other things, that Pancholi extorted Rs 50 lakh from her after threatening to send her private photographs to her relatives and friends.

Pancholi has claimed that he is being implicated in a false case.