Court grants interim bail to BSP MP Dhananjay Singh

BSP MP Dhananjay Singh, accused in a rape case, was granted interim bail by a court here Tuesday.

Additional Sessions Judge Sarita Birbal granted bail to Dhananjay Singh till May 20, after the complainant in the case withdrew the rape charge levelled against him.

The trial court has directed him to furnish a personal bond of Rs.50,000 and a surety of like amount.

Dhananjay Singh, accused along with his wife in connection with the alleged murder of their maid, was granted temporary bail for a week from April 14 to April 21 by the Supreme Court April 9, so that he could file his nomination papers from Jaunpur Lok Sabha constituency.

The complainant, a married railway employee, lodged a rape case against the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) MP and told the court that the accused has done nothing wrong with her and she has deposed against the accused in front of a magistrate under pressure from relatives.

She has said that a case was lodged against the MP as she feared that he was interfering in her matrimonial life.

Telling the court that she was disturbed after her husband sent divorce papers to her in 2009, she stressed that nothing wrong was done with her by the accused.

Accused had not committed rape, she said, adding that she does not want to depose against Dhananjay Singh.

Facing trial under various charges dealing with rape, voluntarily causing hurt and criminal intimidation, Dhananjay Singh, MP from Uttar Pradesh's Jaunpur, was charge sheeted Jan 31 for allegedly repeatedly raping the woman between July 2005 and March 2009.

He was charged under various provisions of the Indian Penal Code, including Sections 376 (rape), 377 (unnatural offence), 323 (voluntarily causing hurt) and 506 (criminal intimidation).

According to the complaint filed by the woman, the MP allegedly raped her at gunpoint and threatened her with dire consequences if she reported the matter, police said. Dhananjay Singh's defence counsel S.P.M. Tripathi has denied the charges.