The filmmaker says he is relieved after the Supreme Court Monday stayed criminal proceedings against him in a rape charge levelled by actor Preeti Jain

“I am speechless and overwhelmed with the kind of relief I got from the trauma my family and me have been going through from the last eight years,” Bhandarkar told a TV channel after the verdict was announced. While staying the proceedings, an apex court bench headed by Justice HL Dattu issued notice to the Maharashtra government and Jain on Bhandarkar’s plea to quash the case. Bhandarkar had challenged the Bombay High Court order asking him to face trial in the alleged rape case. “We always said it’s a false case and the case where victim said, ‘Give me the role in 48 hours otherwise I will put a case against you.’ There was no whisper of rape in that whole legal thing. Also, at the same time, she gave notice to another person and said, ‘I am pregnant and you accept the paternity of my child’,” he said. Click here to read more