BJP leader Shahnawaz Hussain moves Supreme Court challenging Delhi HC order for FIR in rape case

New Delhi: BJP leader Syed Shahnawaz Hussain has moved the Supreme Court challenging a Delhi High Court order directing registration of FIR against him in an alleged rape case dating back to 2018.

Hussain's counsel mentioned the matter seeking urgent hearing before a bench headed by Chief Justice N.V. Ramana. The counsel submitted that his client has a nearly three-decade long career in politics and registration of the FIR will destroy his reputation. The top court agreed to list the matter next week.

In his plea in the apex court, Hussain contended that the high court failed to appreciate that he was 'illegally' implicated in the case, as the woman, who was having a matrimonial dispute with his brother, had an ulterior motive.

"The petitioner is a 'Z' plus security protectee and the allegations by the complainant were found to be totally baseless and untrue as she kept changing her statements, and the location of the petitioner and that of her never matched as per CDRs and CCTV footages," said the plea.

Hussain claimed that he had filed a complaint with Delhi Police in 2017, stating that he was residing separately from his brother Shahbaz Khan, who was a resident of Noida and a woman through her Facebook account was continuously defaming him.

On Wednesday, the Delhi High Court directed registration of an FIR against Hussain, completion of the investigation within three months, and filing of a detailed report under Section 173 Code of Criminal Procedure.

The high court said: "In the present case, there seems to be a complete reluctance on the part of the police to even register an FIR. In the absence of the FIR, at best, the police could have, as correctly observed by the learned special judge, conducted only what is a preliminary inquiry."

In June 2018, a Delhi-based woman had filed a complaint against Hussain, alleging commission of offences under Sections 376 (rape), 120-B (criminal conspiracy) and 506 (criminal intimidation) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).

The woman had alleged that the BJP leader raped her and also threatened to kill her. She filed an application seeking directions to the Delhi Police for the registration of an FIR.