NEW DELHI: Delhi’s Tis Hazari Court granted bail to TV actor Ashish Kapoor, who was arrested in an alleged rape case from Pune and was in judicial custody after police interrogation. On September 10, Additional Sessions Judge (ASJ) Bhupinder Singh granted bail to Ashish Kapoor, directing him to furnish a bail bond of ?1 lakh along with a surety of the same amount.In granting relief, the court took into account the submissions made by counsel, the evidence on record including CCTV footage, and noted that Kapoor was no longer required for investigation.“Thus, in view of the aforesaid observations and discussions, the facts and circumstances that have been brought to the notice of the court in view of the documents/ CCTV footages, in particular that the accused is not required for the purpose of investigation any more, being permanent resident of Delhi and his clean antecedents, I find merits in the bail application and the same is accordingly allowed,” ASJ Singh ordered on September 10.
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While granting bail, the court observed that though police had sought a five-day police custody remand of the accused, the Judicial Magistrate First Class, Central District, had permitted only four days.. “However, the police produced him back before concerned within three days,” the court noted.The court noted that the reasons cited for seeking police custody remand were not sufficient, especially since the accused is well-settled in society, with a permanent residence and business responsibilities, and would not have refused to cooperate with the police.The court pointed out the lapses in the investigation and said, “Despite having been taken on PC remand, no sincere efforts were made to recover the mobile phone. No searches, as per law, were carried out. There is nothing on record that the accused did not cooperate in the investigations.”Advocates Deepak Sharma, Ravish Dedha, Rajan Oberoi, and Somesh Oberoi appeared for Ashish Kapoor. They submitted that, according to the police, the complainant had arrived at the party in a highly intoxicated state and was seen hugging several guests, including bartenders.Advocate Deepak Sharma argued that the allegations against Kapoor were false and filed solely to extort money, adding that the complainant was in the habit of lodging complaints. He pointed out that earlier this year, she had filed a case against her landlord at Janakpuri Police Station.On September 6, after police interrogation, the court remanded Kapoor to 14 days of judicial custody. He had been arrested in connection with an alleged gang rape case registered on the complaint of a woman who attended the same party as him.Earlier, while opposing police custody, Sharma had argued that co-accused Kapil Gupta had already been granted anticipatory bail, making Kapoor’s custody unnecessary. He added that Gupta is an airline pilot, while another co-accused, Ritu Gupta, is a businesswoman.Kapoor was arrested from Pune, Maharashtra, on September 2, after his application seeking interim protection from arrest became infructuous.According to the complaint, the woman met Kapoor and his friends for the first time at a party organized in his neighborhood. She alleged that her drink had been spiked, after which she lost consciousness and was dragged to a washroom, where she was gangraped.An FIR was registered on August 11, 2025, under sections relating to rape, gang rape, and causing hurt, based on her complaint.(The victim’s identity has not been revealed to protect her privacy as per Supreme Court directives on cases related to sexual assault)(With inputs from agency)
