India, Aug. 21 -- The Bombay High Court on Wednesday quashed a rape case registered against a former Daund municipal council president in 2014, observing that the police complaint was lodged 18 years after the alleged incident and seemed to be motivated by mala fide intentions.

"There is a delay of 18 years in lodging the crime. In our view, the complaint is not genuine and is lodged with mala fide intention," said the division bench of justice AS Gadkari and justice Rajesh Patil while striking down the criminal case against Premsukh Kisandas Kataria, 69.

The case against Kataria was registered on July 31, 2014, under sections 376 (rape), 417 (cheating), and 506 (criminal intimidation) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and the Scheduled Ca...