New Delhi: Observing that the allegations made by two women of Chhattisgarh, that they were raped and sexually harassed by an industrialist, could not be brushed aside lightly, the Supreme Court asked them to be present in court on Tuesday to give their version. A Bench of Justices T.S. Thakur and M.Y. Eqbal gave this direction on Monday after Solicitor-General Ranjit Kumar said that since it involved the reputation of the person concerned, the CBI could not conduct even a preliminary enquiry without registration of a case.

He suggested that a judicial officer could record the statements of the victims without registering a case; based on the judicial officer’s report the course of action could be decided. Earlier counsel M.L. Sharma, appearing for the two victims, alleged that a major industrialist was the culprit and his henchmen were threatening the victims.
He said he was offered Rs 25 crore not to pursue the case.

Despite a threat from the henchmen of an industrialist, counsel M.L. Sharma was appearing for the two alleged rape victims free of cost. Justice Thakur asked counsel: “Who engaged you? What is your locus? Who is behind the whole case? If it is being filed for an oblique purpose, then who should be held responsible? You can’t make such wild allegations against an industrialist. Any probe will damage his reputation which is at stake.”

Justice Thakur told the Solicitor-General: “What is disturbing us is the allegations, which cannot be brushed aside. Something is wrong somewhere and we are worried.”
It was at this juncture the Solicitor-General suggested that a judicial officer could be asked to record the statements of the victims. The bench agreed to take a call on this aspect after examining the two victims in court on Tuesday.