The Delhi High Court has set aside a trial court order directing the registration of a rape case against Bharatiya Janata Party leader Shahnawaz Hussain and his brother Shahbaz Hussain, Bar and Bench reported on Monday.

Justice Amit Mahajan of the High Court sent the matter back to a trial court and directed it to hear the matter after giving the accused persons an opportunity to present their case.

The complainant had alleged that Shahbaz Hussain raped her on the false pretext of marriage in 2017 and the BJP leader asked her to not highlight the matter. The woman had also claimed that Shahbaz was already married and a father of two children at the time the crime was committed.

The woman had approached the Metropolitan Magistrate seeking directions to register her complaint.

However, the magistrate said that police investigation was not required in the case and that it was not bound to direct the registration of an FIR if the facts of the case did not show it to be a cognisable offence, reported The Indian Express. A cognisable offence is one in which the police can arrest an accused person without a warrant and begin an investigation without the permission of the court.

The complainant then approached the Additional Sessions Court challenging the Metropolitan Magistrate’s order. On May 31, the additional sessions judge set aside the magistrate’s order and directed the police to file a case of cheating, rape and criminal conspiracy.

The Hussain brothers then approached the High Court against the verdict.

On March 3, the High Court said that a person suspected of a crime has no right to participate in proceedings when a court is considering whether to order the registration of a case. “...The police is not obliged to hear the suspect at the stage of registering FIR,” Justice Mahajan said.

However, it said that a sessions court cannot pass an order against an accused person without giving the person an opportunity to be heard when it is exercising powers of revision.