‘Can’t say there was no double meaning’: Kerala HC allows bail plea of ​​Bobby Chemmanur in sexual assault case | today news

The Kerala High Court on Tuesday accepted the bail plea of ​​prominent businessman Bobby Chemmanur, who has been arrested and is in judicial custody in a sexual harassment case filed against him by a female Malayalam actor.

The status of the petition on the high court’s website states, “Allowed.” Justice PV Kunhikrishnan, hearing the businessman’s bail plea, said Chemmanur’s passport has already been deposited in the court and it will be available to the police during the investigation.

“I will pass a detailed order by 3.30 pm,” the judge said. During the hearing, the court also said it could not be said that Chemmanur’s remarks about the female actor did not have a “double meaning”. .

“We cannot say that there is no double meaning,” the court said. It also noted that some of the claims made in the bail plea regarding the actor’s professional skills and abilities were also “defamatory”.

The prosecution opposed the bail plea, claiming that almost all of Chemmanur’s social media posts contained sexually colored comments. It was argued that giving relief to them would send a wrong message to the society.

On the other hand, the court said that a message has already been sent to the society as the businessman has been in judicial custody since January 9.

He was arrested from Wayanad on January 8. Chemmanur, currently lodged in the district jail here, approached the High Court after the Ernakulam Judicial First Class Magistrate Court-II on January 9 refused to grant him bail and sent him to judicial custody for 14 days.

In his bail plea, he has claimed that the allegations arise from a complaint filed by the female actor, who till recently had publicly acknowledged and celebrated her two-decade-long acquaintance with him.

It further mentioned that he had earlier inaugurated three jewelery shops belonging to his business group at Perambra in April 2019, Attingal in December 2022 and Kannur in August 2024 as the chief guest.

The petition said that the actress herself announced the filing of the complaint by posting a letter addressed to Chemmanur on social media and publicly disclosed the complaint by making inappropriate comments against him. According to the actor’s complaint, on invitation, he inaugurated the Chemmanur International Jewelery Showroom at Alcode, Kannur on August 7, 2024, where thousands of people had gathered to witness the event.

The complaint states that during the inauguration ceremony, Chemmanur placed a necklace around the actress’s neck and then made unwanted sexual advances, groped or groped her with ill intentions. However, Chemmanur’s bail plea states that he is completely innocent of all the allegations against him and denies the allegations, calling them false, baseless and incorrect.

Chemmanur has been charged under Section 75(4) of the Indian Code of Justice (BNS) for making “sexually colored remarks” amounting to sexual harassment, as well as for publishing or transmitting obscene material in electronic form. The charge has been made under section 67 of the Act. Form.