Vikas Sachdeva gets relief in mid-air molestation case involving former actor

A 41-year-old businessman, convicted for molesting a former actor on board a domestic flight in December 2017, has been granted relief by the Bombay High Court who suspended his sentence. Bombay HC has also granted Vikas Sachdeva bail till the appeal is heard and decided. The appeal was heard on March 2, according to the reports.

A sessions court on January 15, 2020, convicted Vikas Sachdeva under IPC Section 354 (assault or criminal force on woman with an intent to outrage her modesty) and provisions of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, as the victim was a minor when the incident took place.

He was awarded three years' imprisonment in the case. The sessions court had on the same day granted bail to Sachdeva and suspended the sentence imposed upon him.

On February 20, the businessman filed his appeal before the high court, claiming that the trial court had erred in finding him guilty. In his plea in the high court, Sachdeva refuted the allegations levelled against him and said even before the trial court, the victim had not identified the accused.

He said in his plea that this was a fit case for the conviction and sentence to be quashed and set aside.

The incident took place when the victim, then 17 years old, was travelling by an Air Vistara flight from Delhi to Mumbai.

After landing, the victim narrated the ordeal through a video post on Instagram. Sachdeva was subsequently arrested and later released on bail.

(With PTI inputs)