Ward officer arrested on the charges of rape, granted bail by Mumbai court

MUMBAI: Exactly a month and half after his arrest, the sessions court on Tuesday granted bail to assistant commissioner of BMC (ward officer) Nitin Chandrapratap Shukla, who was arrested on the complaint of alleged sexual assault on the false promise of marriage.Shukla was arrested on April 27 by Parksite police shortly after he attended a meeting on upcoming preparation at auditorium of Veermata Jijabai Bhosale Udyan and Zoo in Byculla, which all civic officers had gathered to attend. Shukla (37), was working as a ward officer for over a year. Prior to being appointed as K-east ward officer he also worked in B ward & F North ward. Earlier he had also worked in the Building Proposal Department where he served as a sub-engineer. According to the First Information Report registered on Sunday,,the complainant—a 32 year old architect by profession—alleged that the accused developed a relationship with her in 2023 when she approached the BP department for approvals related to a construction proposal.According to the prosecution, the victim and Shukla came in contact in February 2023 in connection with a building proposal file while he was serving as a sub-engineer in the BMC department. The two later became friends and remained in contact. The complainant alleged that Shukla told her about marital discord with his wife and promised to marry her after obtaining a divorce. Based on the promise, he allegedly established physical relations with her between September 2023 and January 2026 before later refusing to marry her.During the hearing, Shukla’s counsel Sudeep Pasbola argued that both the accused and the complainant were mature adults and that the complainant was fully aware that he was already married. The defence also claimed that the complainant had started extorting money from him in 2026. It was further submitted that Shukla was behind bar since April 24 since the investigation had been completed and the charge sheet had already been filed.Advocate Bhomesh Bellam for prosecutrix submited that the accused has promised to marry with the Prosecutrix by giving divorce to his wife. He has committed sexual intercourse with the Prosecutrix for about six times with deceitful means and hence committed the offence under Section 69 of the BNS. If accused is released on bail, then there is threat to the life of Prosecutrix. Hence, application be rejected.Additional Sessions Judge S.K. Karhale observed that both parties were educated adults and had maintained a prolonged relationship. The court noted that the accused had been in custody for over a month, the investigation was complete, and there was no possibility of the trial commencing in the near future.The court granted bail to Shukla on a personal bond of Rs. 25,000 with one surety of the like amount and directed him not to tamper with prosecution witnesses.