Filmmaker Mahmood Farooqui, who has been accused of raping an American research scholar, was on Monday granted bail by a Delhi court on grounds of his good conduct, The Times of India reported.
“Since all witnesses have been examined and final arguments have been heard too...the fact that Farooqui has attended proceedings on a day-to-day basis while being on interim bail...He is admitted on regular bail,” additional sessions judge Sanjiv Jain said.
Farooqui, who co-directed "Peepli Live", had to submit a personal bond of Rs 1 lakh. The court observed that he had never tried to influence witnesses or had misused his liberty when he was on interim bail, the report states.
The court also asked why Farooqui's wife Anusha Rizvi did not confront her husband about the allegations more than a month after she had exchanged emails with the complainant. The judge said, “A wife cannot keep mum for so long when there are such serious allegations against the husband.It was an unusual behaviour."
The TOI report further states, Farooqui's lawyer however said that Farooqui was undergoing treatment for bipolar disorder at a rehabilitation centre when the email exchange took place.
“Rizvi had responded to the e-mail as Farooqui had no access to his laptop at the rehabilitation centre...She could not reach him as he was being treated at the centre...Anusha's father also passed away in May 2015 which was a tough situation for her as well as Farooqui, who was very close to his father-in-law. In these unusual circumstances, she chose to wait for an appropriate time to communicate it to her husband in June which shows her strong, remarkable character," the lawyer said.