The Supreme Court on Wednesday upheld the Kerala High Court’s order granting anticipatory bail to Malayalam film actor Vijay Babu, who was convicted in a rape case.
However, the court ruled that the ban on police interviewing the accused actor after July 3 was unreasonable and overturned it.
“We do not believe that granting bail is unreasonable,” said a rest bench headed by Judge Indira Banerjee.
He asked her not to tamper with evidence or try to influence witnesses and not to leave the state without court permission.
“The defendant must not harass the victim,” he said.
Analysis of rape case for anticipatory bail
According to lead lawyer Siddharth Luthra, representing Babu, said the victim is still trying to establish contact with the accused and that sooner or later will happen, but the victim’s lawyer has objected to it.
“Don’t make such baseless claims. Don’t make fun of the victim,” said the victim’s attorney, R Basant.
The high court also ordered the accused actor not to post anything on social media about the victim.
Chief attorney Jaideep Gupta urged the court to cancel Babu’s anticipatory bail because his act of leaving the country after FIR registration and attempting to slander the victim was enough to deny him bail.
To help the Malayalam producer and actor, the Supreme Court upheld the Kerala High Court’s order allowing Vijay Babu on early bail in a rape case.
With a high court order, Vijay Babu continues to be protected from arrest. Vijay Babu is accused of raping an actress.
However, the benches of Judges Indira Banerjee and JK Maheshwari ruled that the ban on police interviewing the alleged actor after July 3 was unreasonable and overturned.
“We refuse to interfere with Kerala HC’s order. Except that we amended the interrogation part. We make it clear that the petitioner can be questioned after July 3, 2022, if necessary,” the Court said. judgment order.
The plaintiff, a 25-year-old Malayalam film actor who has accused Vijay Babu of sexually assaulting her, appealed against the Supreme Court’s order in June, saying that every day he was outside of custody. Police custody poses a threat to her and other witnesses in the case.
Vijay Babu has been arrested for alleged sexual assault. He is believed to have been arrested after appearing outside the Ernakulam South Township Police Station in Kochi of Kerala on June 27.
On June 22, Kerala High Court granted Vijay Babu anticipatory bail. The court ordered him not to leave the state under any circumstances.
The court heard pleas from the State of Kerala and the survivor challenged the Kerala High Court’s order to grant bail to the accused.
The Kerala High Court on June 22 granted Babu anticipatory bail in a rape case filed against him after an actress accused him of sexually exploiting her.
Babu who is on the run made a Facebook Live from Dubai to refute the rape allegations. He then applied to the Supreme Court for early bail.
The defense for the Supreme Court said the case raised an important issue as to whether a defendant, who was on the run, could be released on anticipatory bail because it would cause him to escape and join the investigation or not.
The defense also argued that the bail order opening the way for all the wealthy and influential people to be charged with serious crimes was necessary to interrogate them in police custody, leading to a betrayal of the public. physical.
The plea must be dropped so that the police can conduct a free and fair investigation into the incident, the plea said.
In addition, the defendant used his influence in the upper echelons of the industry to pressure the victim not to pursue the case, it was filed.
The defendant was able to forge evidence and influence witnesses and is known to have developed an erotic relationship with the woman in distress, as well as the prosecution’s allegation, according to allegation.
