High Court of Kerala grants bail to the prominent businessman and social media personality Mr. Bobby Chemannur in sexual harassment case against mollywood actress. The bail was granted with scathing opinion by HC Bench. The HC Bench granted the and concluded the case for now with the following statement "Before concluding, I am forced to say that body shaming is not acceptable in our society. Comments about the body of a person as too fat, too skinny, too short, too tall, too dark, too black, etc. should be avoided. There is a sense that we are all “too something,” and we are all “not enough”. This is life. Our bodies will change, our minds will change and our hearts will change. Everybody should be vigilant while making comments about others, whether they are men or women. I leave it there,"
The actress filed a complaint against Chemmanur, alleging that he made inappropriate and offensive remarks toward her during an inaugural function held at a jewellery store owned by the businessman. The complaint further claimed that Chemmanur's comments not only caused her distress at the event but also triggered a wave of sexually inappropriate and derogatory comments directed at her on social media platforms. According to the complaint, these remarks encouraged others to engage in online harassment, leaving her subjected to unwarranted abuse and offensive comments on various digital platforms.
Chemmanur was arrested from Wayanad on January 8 and charged under Sections 75(1)(i) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) for physical contact and advances involving unwelcome and explicit sexual overtures, and 75(1)(iv) for making sexually coloured remarks as a form of sexual harassment. He was also booked under Section 67 of the IT Act for publishing or transmitting obscene material in electronic form.
Chemmanur's initial attempt to secure bail was unsuccessful, as the Judicial First Class Magistrate-II at Ernakulam rejected his claims of innocence, stating that his remarks toward the actress appeared to be laden with sexual innuendo. Following this, Chemmanur was remanded to judicial custody for 14 days.
Chemmanur subsequently approached the High Court seeking bail, asserting that the allegations against him were baseless and fabricated by the actress as part of a publicity stunt. He argued that any evidence required for the case was readily available in the public domain, rendering his continued remand unwarranted. Additionally, he contended that his arrest from Wayanad was carried out in violation of the guidelines established by the Supreme Court in Arnesh Kumar v. State of Bihar.
The Court opined the following; “Prima facie I am of the opinion that there are ingredients to attract the offences alleged against the petitioner. The petitioner is using words with double meanings. Any Malayalee who reads the First Information Statement can easily understand that the words used by the petitioner are with double meanings.”
But, the Court understood that even if the bail was not granted the offences in the case would only amount to a maximum sentence of 3 years and this fact persuaded the Court to grant the bail. The court also took assurances from Advocate B Raman Pillai, the counsel for the accused that Mr. Chemmanur would not make any inappropriate statements on social media in the future.
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