Magistrate H K Ganatra observed that according to the six medical reports submitted to the court, there was no evidence to suggest that the accused had been tortured. The magistrate said the ATS had followed all necessary formalities.

The court also rejected an application regarding illegal detention filed by Purohit, who claimed that he was shown arrested on November 5 but had actually been detained by the ATS from October 29.

The court rejected the plea after the ATS submitted an Army certificate issued at the time Purohit was handed over by Army officials to the police, as is required during the arrest of a serving officer of the Armed Forces.

Special Public Prosecutor Ajay Misar informed the court that the police required three more days of Purohit's custody for investigation, saying that most of the custody so far was lost in transit and in conducting forensic tests on him in Bangalore.

Purohit's lawyer Avinash Bhide opposed the police custody saying that the information revealed by the prosecution in court had not been mentioned in the remand application which he claimed was identical to the initial remand application produced in court by the ATS on November 5 seeking his custody.

Hearing the arguments, the court granted the ATS Purohit's custody until November 18. The court also allowed Purohit's relatives, which included his father-in-law Parag Kulkarni and mother-in-law Vinodini Kulkarni, to meet him in the court room in the presence of the judge.

Speaking to The Sunday Express before meeting Purohit, his relative Vinay Dalvi rubbished the allegations against Purohit, calling them baseless. "He is a very secular minded person and will never indulge in such heinous acts. The entire family is behind him and we will fight the case till the end to get justice for our son," said Dalvi.

Describing Purohit as a person who was very expressive and talkative, Dalvi said, "He has been in the Army for several years and during the family's interactions with him we have never come across a feeling of hatred against a particular community."