A Delhi court Tuesday ordered the registration of a First Information Report (FIR) against a woman for allegedly extorting money from businessman Samir Modi, against whom she had filed a rape complaint.
Modi’s former live-in partner filed the rape complaint, according to police sources who also claimed the woman had allegedly demanded Rs 50 crore to settle the matter. Modi, the executive director of Godfrey Phillips India, was arrested by the Delhi Police in September in connection with the rape case, and was granted bail a week after his arrest.
“The court is in agreement with the submissions of Ld. Senior Counsel for the complainant that the bare perusal of the (WhatsApp) chats between the parties, prima facie disclose the cognizable offence under section 308(6) (extortion) of BNS, wherein the complainant has been put in fear of the accusation of offence u/s 69 BNS (sexual intercourse by employing deceitful means etc),” said Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate Vinod Joshi, Saket Court, in his order dated December 16.
Modi was represented in court by Senior Advocate Vikram Sharma, and Advocates Siddharth Yadav and Saurabh Ahuja. Modi’s counsel argued from the beginning that the relationship between him and the woman was consensual, and she was extorting money from him.
“The court is constrained to note the conduct of the police authorities in respect to the complaint of the complainant. Admittedly, the complainant (Modi) approached the police authorities with the present complaint on 08.08.2025, much prior to the registration of FIR no. 398/2025 PS NFC (rape FIR in New Friends Colony Police Station) on 10.09.2025,” ACJM Joshi said.
“It is stated by the IO that the present complaint is a counterblast to the FIR no. 398/2025, so registered upon the complaint of the accused. Such submission is absurd as the complaint of the complainant has been filed two months prior to the registration of such FIR,” he added.
The court also pulled up the police for failing to take action on Modi’s complaint of alleged extortion, despite a four-month delay.
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“In a stark contrast to the non-action, the machinery of the state has come with full force upon the complainant in the FIR no. 398/2025 dated 10.09.2025, wherein the LOC was immediately issued against the present complainant without any service of notice, and he was arrested on 18.09.2025,” ACJM Joshi said.
“IO has also submitted that the allegations levelled in the present complaint are closely connected with the FIR no. 398/2025 and the issues raised herein are not distinct from the issues already under investigation in the FIR no. 398/2025. The said submission is again without merit as the present complaint was filed way prior to the registration of such FIR, and, if indeed, the allegations in the present complaint were worth investigating, then it remains unanswered as to why the same were not investigated upon,” he added.
Nirbhay Thakur is a Senior Correspondent with The Indian Express who primarily covers district courts in Delhi and has reported on the trials of many high-profile cases since 2023.
Professional Background
Education: Nirbhay is an economics graduate from Delhi University.
Beats: His reporting spans the trial courts, and he occasionally interviews ambassadors and has a keen interest in doing data stories.
Specializations: He has a specific interest in data stories related to courts.
Core Strength: Nirbhay is known for tracking long-running legal sagas and providing meticulous updates on high-profile criminal trials.
Recent notable articles
In 2025, he has written long form articles and two investigations. Along with breaking many court stories, he has also done various exclusive stories.
1) A long form on Surender Koli, accused in the Nithari serial killings of 2006. He was acquitted after spending 2 decades in jail. was a branded man. Deemed the “cannibal" who allegedly lured children to his employer’s house in Noida, murdered them, and “ate their flesh” – his actions cited were cited as evidence of human depravity at its worst. However, the SC acquitted him finding various lapses in the investigation. The Indian Express spoke to his lawyers and traced the 2 decades journey.
2) For decades, the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) has been at the forefront of the Government’s national rankings, placed at No. 2 over the past two years alone. It has also been the crucible of campus activism, its protests often spilling into national debates, its student leaders going on to become the faces and voices of political parties of all hues and thoughts. The Indian Express looked at all court cases spanning over two decades and did an investigation.
3) Investigation on the 700 Delhi riots cases. The Indian Express found that in 17 of 93 acquittals (which amounted to 85% of the decided cases) in Delhi riots cases, courts red-flag ‘fabricated’ evidence and pulled up the police.
Signature Style
Nirbhay’s writing is characterized by its procedural depth. He excels at summarizing 400-page chargesheets and complex court orders into digestible news for the general public.
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