The Bombay High Court on Friday gave social media activist Priya Singh, who was hit by the car of her boyfriend Ashwajit Gaikwad, the son of a Maharashtra chief minister, to reflect on the affidavit filed by her and return on October 8. Ashwajit Gaikwad said Priya Singh sent her a message to meet him, but at the same time, he wanted the charges against him to be more serious.
During the hearing on Friday, lawyers Niranjan Mundargi and Keral Mehta submitted the affidavit of Ashwajit Gaikwad, son of officer Anilkumar Gaikwad. They sent before the bench of Justices AS Gadkari and Dr. Neela Gokhale that Priya Singh came to the court demanding that the suspect face charges, but on the other hand, he was sending her messages in the middle of the night asking her to meet.
Ashwajit Gaikwad went to the court and sought quashing of the FIR against him under sections 279 (rash driving), 323 (voluntarily causing hurt) and 338 (causing grievous hurt) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC). Priya Singh also approached the court to add section 307 (attempt to murder) and 376 (rape) and transfer the investigation to any other agency.
Ashwajit Gaikwad said he had complained to the police about Priya Singh’s messages coming at night. Screenshots of the messages are attached to the affidavit. Advocate Mundargi suspected that these messages may be for extorting money. The messages were sent on June 17 around 1:24 am.
The bench then asked Priya Singh’s counsel that the contact number and messages belonged to Priya Singh. Priya Singh’s lawyer said the contact number was not hers, but refused to include anything in the affidavit.
Justice Gadkari said, “We are giving you a chance. What will be the legal consequences of this?” Justice Gokhale added, “She (Priya Singh) is the victim here. Let her think about it. You should not blame her.”
Earlier, Joint Commissioner of Police (Crime), Thane, informed the court that Priya Singh fell while fetching her bag from the SUV. Priya Singh alleged that Ashwajit Gaikwad had ordered his friend to give him a ride on December 11 last year after an argument between the two on Ghodbundar road in Thane district.