Khushi
Actor Vjay Raaz on Wednesday has been granted interim relief by the Nagpur Bench of the Bombay High Court in sexual harassment case against him. He is facing charges of outraging modesty and stalking a film crew member under Section 354A and 354D of IPC .
A Division Bench comprising Justices Zaka Haq and Amit Borkarhas directed that all proceedings against Raaz in the criminal case be stayed pending before the Magistrate Court at Gondia district.
“By an interim order, it is directed that the proceedings of regular criminal case pending before the second joint civil judge of junior division and judicial magistrate first class (JMFC) in Gondia shall stand stayed till further orders,” the order said.
The 51-year-old actor has filed a petition seeking quashing and setting aside the First Information Report (FIR) registered against him at the Ramnagar police station of Gondia on November 3, 2020.
Veteran actor Vijay Raaz has been working with the film fraternity for over two decades and has acted in more than 100 movies.
The FIR was registered by an assistant director of Sherni stating that he had called her to his room under the pretense of some work, but only passed time.
On October 27, he tried to keep his hand over the shoulder, and then repeated his acts and also passed remarks.
Raaz in his petition has contended that the complaint registered against is based on “imagination with ill intention to malign the image and gain popularity at the cost of a senior actor”.
According to Raaz, there is no offence that has been committed by him. “Also, if there is a demand for sexual favours or showing pornography against the women’s will or making sexually coloured remark that would amount to the harassment,” he contended.
