Mentioning before a Vacation Bench of Justices Indira Banerjee and Sanjiv Khanna, Mr. Rai, through his counsel, sought anticipatory bail. Mr. Rai is reported to be absconding after an FIR was registered in Varanasi's Lanka police station by a college student on May 1. The complainant said Mr. Rai took her home to meet his wife and assaulted her. Mr. Rai's counsel told the court that his client was a popular candidate and the case had been framed to defame him. The Ghosi constituency goes to the polls on May 19, the last phase of the Lok Sabha polls.

Source: The Hindu May 14, 2019 12:20 UTC