The Delhi High Court has acquitted Mahmood Farooqui, the co-director of the critically acclaimed Hindi movie 'Peepli Live' who was said to have allegedly raped an American woman.

The court asked Mahmood to be released herewith setting aside the trial court's order that sentenced the director to a jail term of seven years. This comes in the backdrop of Farooqui claiming his innocence by challenging the trial court's order in High Court.

Questioning the verity in the complainant's claim, the High Court also pointed out the delay in the filing of the First Information Report. The court also raised doubts if the accused had understood that there was no consent from the victim.

The 35 year old woman was a student from New York working on her doctoral thesis in the country. The two met at an party after which the director had allegedly taken her to another room and had forced himself upon her. 

The woman stood by her allegations during the trial while Farooqui claimed that he as falsely implicated. In an 85 page judgement the court had held that the woman's allegations were not reliable and instructed Farooqui to be released.