Bombay High Court extends interim protection from arrest granted to official

The Bombay High Court on Thursday extended till November 12 the interim protection from arrest granted to a senior official of the Maharashtra government in a rape case. Justice P D Kode passed the order during the hearing of anticipatory bail application filed by Vivek Dahiphale, Joint Secretary in the Irrigation Department.

The High Court also asked Dahiphale not to make any changes to his Facebook profile page as it constitutes evidence in the case. Dahiphale had approached the vacation bench of the High Court after a 41-year-old woman, with whom he had become acquainted through Facebook, accused him of raping her after promising to marry her.

The vacation bench had passed an interim order, effective till today, that if he was arrested, the police should release him on a bail of Rs 25,000. "Prima facie it does not appear that custodial interrogation is necessary," the court had said. This order was extended on Thursday.

The court has also directed Dahiphale not to contact the complainant, not to leave the country without permission and report to the Alibag police station, where the case is registered, every Friday.

According to the woman, Dahiphale proposed a marriage and had intimate relations with her. Advocate Prashant Pandey, the man's lawyer, argued that his client had been falsely implicated as the relationship between him and the complainant was consensual.