Victim withdraws, SC quashes rape case against Madhur Bhandarkar

After starlet Preeti Jain informed the court that she was not interested in pursuing the matter further, a Supreme Court bench today quashed a rape case that had been filed against Bollywood director Madhur Bhandarkar. Jain’s counsel told the Supreme Court bench today that the starlet was not interested in pursuing the matter any further, CNN IBN reported. [caption id=“attachment_514513” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  The director had claimed innocence throughout. PTI[/caption] Bhandarkar, who has directed Bollywood hits like Fashion, Page 3 and Chandni Bar, had also approached the court seeking to have the probe against him quashed since proper procedure had not been followed in the case. “I am numb after the verdict… I have been through trauma and this thing was always hanging over my head," Bhandarkar told Times Now. “I was never demoralized by these allegations. This is a big relief and I am happy it is finally over,” he said. He also denied that there had been any out of court settlement that he had with the actress. Jain had filed a case of rape against Bhandarkar in 2004 in a Mumbai police station, in which she had alleged that she was raped 16 times between 1999 and 2004 after promising to cast her in his films.  Bhadarkar had claimed innocence. The police had said in its report that the case was false, but a magistrate’s court had ruled in 2011 that the director should face a criminal trial. The director had then approached the Bombay High Court, but the court had refused to stay the lower court’s order.