Guwahati: The Gauhati high court on Monday quashed rape charges against Union MoS for railways Rajen Gohain after the complainant submitted in court that she had lodged the case against Gohain out of anger.The court order came as big relief for Gohain, sitting Lok Sabha MP from the Nagaon parliamentary seat, who had earlier decided not to contest the Lok Sabha election till his name is cleared in the case. Interestingly, BJP, despite declaring the names of all nine candidates for the polls, is yet to name its nominee for the Nagaon seat. The saffron party is contesting 10 out of 14 LS seats in the state. Election to the Nagaon parliamentary seat will be held on April 18.“I am very happy that the truth has prevailed,” said Gohain. Though he is yet to specify his intention to seek candidature from Nagaon, his close aides said the party must consider his nomination as the charges against him have been dismissed by the HC.The HC has also set aside an earlier order of the Nagaon chief judicial magistrate’s court in which the latter, after rejecting a police report in the case, had taken cognizance under various sections, including rape. In an FIR lodged in August last year, the complainant had alleged that Gohain had established a sexual relationship with her and her sister-in-law on the pretext of providing them government jobs.“In an affidavit before the court, the complainant stated that the allegations made against Gohain were not correct and that the FIR was filed out of frustration and anger only to teach him a lesson. The husband of the complainant, too, stated that Gohain was innocent in a separate affidavit. Under such circumstances, denying relief to the petitioner (Gohain) would result in serious miscarriage of justice,” the court order read. Advocates Nilay Dutta, Tanmay Jyoti Mahanta, Pankaj Protim Dutta and Arunav Phukan appeared for Gohain in court.

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