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Synopsis

 A division bench of the Bombay High Court, consisting of Justice Nitin W Sambre and Justice Rajesh Patil, stated on Tuesday that it will hear the plea filed by Bhushan Kumar, Chairman and CEO of T-Series, seeking the quashing of a rape case, on the September 4.

Bhushan Kumar, the son of Gulshan Kumar, has been accused of repeatedly raping a woman under the pretext of offering her a job within his music record label and film production company.

The woman has claimed that she was subjected to multiple instances of sexual assault from September 2017 to August 2022.

Advocate Ashok Mudrangi, representing Kumar, had previously informed the bench that the police had submitted a B-summary report (closure report) to the relevant magistrate. The court was also apprised that the woman had consented to quash the case.

Previously, the high court had commented that it was not a situation where the relationship was consensual.

"Contents of (consent) affidavit is not sufficient to quash FIR. Generally under section 376, FIR can be quashed with consent of the complainant. But then that is after the FIR or the affidavit shows that there is a consensual relationship. Here the complainant is only saying she doesn’t want to proceed with the case due to ‘circumstantial misunderstanding," the court said.

The high court had also stated that the fact that the parties involved are consenting should not be the sole reason to quash the FIR under section 376 of the IPC.

The high court will now take up the matter on September 4.

Case title: Bhushan Kumar vs State of Maharashtra