MUMBAI: A sessions court on Friday discharged suspended IPS officer Sunil Paraskar , who was accused of raping a model . While the 58-year-old suspended DIG will move to be reinstated in the force, the complainant told TOI she would appeal in the Bombay high court. Judge V A Raut pronounced the order on the application moved by Paraskar’s defence advocate Rizwan Merchant on June 30.

Paraskar, who was present in court with his wife Sangeeta, brother and sister-in-law, broke down after hearing the verdict. He also clarified there was no admission of consensual sex on his part. “If I would have gone to jail even for a day I would have killed myself and they (family) would have followed. One can’t destroy families like this,” he said. He further said the family was in the worst form of trauma for the last one-and-a-half years. “Meeting the same constables who worked with me was the worst kind of embarrassment. At my brother’s daughter’s wedding in May, all eyes were on us and we know what everyone was thinking. The looks spoke louder than words. A number of officers have committed suicide in such situations. There was a time when I contemplated suicide too,” he added. He stated he was implicated as the complainant wanted to create enough hype and controversy and gain publicity to enter a reality show. Paraskar’s wife of 30 years said she did not believe the allegations even for a second. “We are always there for each other. I knew her (complainant) very well having met her and chatted with her often. I absolutely knew all of the allegations were rubbish,” Sangeeta Paraskar said.

The complainant expressed sadness at the verdict. “I am shocked that I was not heard by the judge before giving an order for discharge. This should have been a matter of trial. Without hearing the witness if an accused is discharged then it leads to many doubts in my mind. I am upset, have lost faith and I am going to challenge the order in the high court,” she said.

Reflecting on the possible grounds for the discharge, Merchant said, “The complainant’s emails and Whatsapp messages post the alleged incidents (of rape and molestation) expressing her love for the officer may have gone against her.” Merchant also said a transcript of the conversation captured on CD, in which she had allegedly strategized to implicate him, was produced before the court. Merchant also lamented on the nature of investigations conducted in the case and said there were several lapses at every stage.

Special public prosecutor Pradeep Gharat too said he will challenge the order. Legal experts say in such a scenario, Paraskar will have to fight another battle in the high court and it will be difficult for the state to reinstate him. Paraskar is due to retire in 2017.

In July 2014, the woman approached then Mumbai police commissioner Rakesh Maria, alleging Paraskar molested and sexually assaulted her on two occasions in December 1 and 7, 2013. She claimed she first met Paraskar in 2012, when he was an additional commissioner of police (north region), regarding a case. On her complaint, an FIR was reigstered against Paraskar at Malwani police station under sections 376(2) (rape by a police officer) and 376 C (intercourse by superintendent of Jail, remand home, etc).

