The Delhi High Court on Monday acquitted Peepli Live co-director Mahmood Farooqui in a rape case. The High Court set aside an earlier verdict of a trial court sentencing him to seven years in jail for allegedly raping a research scholar from the United States, PTI reported.

Justice Ashutosh Kumar said there were doubts over the accuracy of the complaint filed by the woman, ANI reported. The High Court directed that Farooqui be released immediately. In August 2016, the trial court had convicted Farooqui in the rape case, and also imposed a fine of Rs 50,000.

The 35-year-old woman, who was in Uttar Pradesh for research work, had told the police that she was assaulted by the filmmaker at his Sukhdev Vihar house in southern Delhi on March 28, 2015. “The woman alleged that Farooqui got drunk at a party and took her to a separate room where he forced himself on her,” an officer had then said. She had returned to the US after the incident, but later approached the Delhi Police through diplomatic channels and lodged a formal complaint on June 19 that year.