Opposing the anticipatory bail plea of senior IPS officer Sunil Paraskar accused of rape by a Mumbai-based model, the prosecution today told a court here that his lawyer had earlier tried to reach an out-of-court settlement with the victim.
"Paraskar's lawyer Rizwan Merchant met the victim's former lawyer Riwan Siddique....And offered to give money (for settlement)," chief public prosecutor Kalpana Chavan said.
However, both Merchant and Siddique told PTI that they did not discuss any such settlement.
Saying that Paraskar can influence the witnesses, advocate Chavan said he had made several calls to Siddique between June 18 and June 23. "Paraskar made 13 calls and sent 106 messages to Siddique while Merchant made 11 calls and sent three messages," she said, citing call data records.
The prosecutor also alleged that Paraskar and the victim shared "fiduciary relationship of trust". The victim believed that he will help her with an earlier criminal case she had lodged, Chavan said.
Chavan also said lack of resistance on the part of the victim did not mean a consent to sexual intercourse. "The victim was not able to raise her voice, that does not mean she had consented," the prosecutor said.
When the victim contacted the IPS officer about the case lodged by her, Paraskar, instead of calling her to his office, asked her to come to a place in Bandra, she pointed out.
Referring to the allegation that he had offered to show her some flats as she was looking for accommodation, Chavan said "why did Paraskar, who is of a rank of Deputy Inspector General, go with a model to show her a flat?"
The prosecution claimed the alleged rape of December 7 last year was a pre-meditated crime.
