Veteran actor Alok Nath has been granted anticipatory bail by the Dindoshi sessions court in Mumbai, in response to the complaint filed by TV writer/director Vinta Nanda. According to this report appeared in Hindustan Times, Judge SS Oza questioned the complaint of sexual assault against the actor. One of them being that the complaint was filed many years after the alleged sexual assault took place, also saying that the alleged victim might have delayed the filing of the complaint ‘for her own benefit’.
Judge Oza made the following observation about the allegations against actor Alok Nath – “if there’s a delay in lodging the FIR, it loses the advantage of spontaneity, danger creeps in of the introduction of coloured version, exaggerated account or concocted story as a result of large number of consultations/deliberation.”
“The offence against the actor has been registered on the basis of patently defamatory, false, malicious, derogatory and imaginary report of the first informant or complainant (Ms Nanda). The report or complaint is inspired by the complainant’s personal vendetta towards him” the judge said.
Nanda made her first official complaint on November 21, 2018, a few weeks after she accused Alok Nath of rape in a viral social media post. It was only after the formal complaint was filed that Alok Nath was charged with rape by the Mumbai police. Nanda claimed to have not filed a complaint when the alleged incident did take place in 1998, since Nath was a significantly more powerful figure than she was in the television industry.
“The duo was working in the production unit of a television serial (in Mumbai) when they met Alok Nath in mid-80s, and a fast friendship developed between the three of them. He (Alok Nath) proposed to Ashu in 1987 and they got married,” the court said in the order.
Judge Oza also raised doubts about Nanda’s claim saying that she remembers the alleged incident took place even though she couldn’t recollect an exact date or month of the alleged incident. And considering all these factors, the court ruled that it was possible that Nath was being falsely ‘roped in the crime’.
Actor Alok Nath’s reputation was burned after a series of accounts came forward about his misbehaviour with several women, including the likes of Tara’s Navneet Nishan and actor Sandhya Mridul. All women confirmed Nath’s abusive behaviour under the influence of alcohol. Nath was even slapped by Navneet Nishan, after he tried to make a pass at her in full public view. Nath was fired from the show, shortly after.
Alok Nath spoke to the media personnel saying that he had been advised to lie low by his lawyer. And he was asked to not discuss the case while the matter remained subjudice.
