Rape case: Builder gets bail after complainant offers settlement

The sessions court has granted bail to a 47yearold builder accused of rape after he submitted audio recordings of the complainantrsquos lawyer demanding Rs 20 lakh to settle the caseldquoAfter going through material proofs in hand the session judge granted bail to my client Ankush Makharia He was behind bars for 10 months The same court in the past had rejected his bail twice due to an existing similar case from 2015 by another womanrdquo Advocate Ali Kaashif Khan Deshmukh saidThe court order was made available on April 1 The Oshiwara police booked Makharia in April 2022 on the charge of raping a woman on the pretext of marrying her It was also alleged that he cheated her of Rs 4 lakh and assaulted abused and threatened herAlso Read Gold worth Rs 462 crore seized at Mumbai airport one heldAccording to the complainantrsquos statement she met Makharia in 2017 when she was 34 In October 2017 she received a phone call from a woman claiming to be Makhariarsquos wife She then confronted Makharia about her and he said they were getting a divorce and that the case was pending in courtThe complainant said Makharia promised to marry after their divorce and even introduced her to his family friends and parents He would also ask for money due to his poor economic condition she allegedIn 2018 she learnt that he had a daughter and a son but Makharia claimed they were adopted she told police When the complainant insisted on getting married Makharia gave excuses She ended their relationship in 2020 and lodged a complaint on April 6 2022Makhariarsquos lawyer Deshmukh argued in the court that the woman is trying to extort money from him There can be no case of rape as the sexual relationship was consensual he saidHe also submitted WhatsApp messages the woman sent Makharia On March 9 2021 she asked the accused to give her Rs 375245 and threatened to increase the amount if he delayed he told the court On November 27 2021 she threatened to file a complaint if he did not pay ldquoReturn full money or FIR next Mondayrdquo reads one of the messagesHe argued that the messages show that the complaint was filed with an ulterior motive to extort money as there was no mention of marriage in the WhatsApp chats His exwife had filed a complaint against the woman in 2019 for allegedly assaulting her Deshmukh told the courtSince December 2022 she had been demanding Rs 20 lakh from Makharia to settle the case outside of court his lawyer saidMakhariarsquos friend recorded the conversation between the two lawyers and submitted the recording before the Bar Council of Maharashtra along with a complaint against the womanrsquos counselAdvocate M Bodke who appeared as an intervener for the woman told the court that the accused had initiated the talks for settlement through his friend on January 2 2023The court took into consideration all the submissions and also that the woman stayed in the relationship despite learning about his wife and children ldquoThe court found that the subsequent events pointed out by the accused showed a change in circumstance and the case for bail was made outrdquo the order reads