In a key development linked to the 2019 Karan Oberoi rape case, a Mumbai sessions court has refused to stay criminal proceedings against actress Pooja Bedi and seven others accused of unlawfully revealing the identity of a rape survivor.

In an unprecedented but touching act, which has been given national media attention, a magistrate of the town of Bodhan in Telangana's Nizamabad district stepped out of his court and delivered judgment from the street.