The court had on May 17 refused to grant interim relief to Atul Rai, who had sought protection from arrest citing LS elections. The Supreme Court on Monday refused to hear the anticipatory bail plea of newly-elected Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP)?MP Atul Rai, a rape accused. A vacation bench led by Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi noted there were 16 other criminal cases pending against Rai. It added the bench was not inclined to accept Rai’s request. The rape case was registered against Rai on May 1 following a complaint by a college student, who alleged that he had taken her home on the pretext of meeting his wife but sexually assaulted her. Rai has denied the allegations and has been on the run since he was booked. Rai won the Lok Sabha election from Uttar Pradesh’s Ghosi constituency by a margin of over one lakh votes. Earlier, the court asked Rai’s lawyer about the number of criminal cases pending against his client. The counsel informed the court about the 16 cases but said Rai was out on bail in all except in the rape case. He told the bench about the petition Rai had filed seeking quashing of the rape case. “Sorry, we are not inclined to entertain this petition. Dismiss,” the bench said, prompting the lawyer to withdraw the case. “Counsel for the petitioner seeks leave of this court to withdraw the present special leave petition. The special leave petition is dismissed as withdrawn,”it added. The court had on May 17 refused to grant interim relief to Rai, who had sought protection from arrest citing LS elections