The Kerala high court on Wednesday granted anticipatory bail to veteran actor-cum-director Balachandra Menon in a case accusing him of outraging the modesty of a female actor in 2007 during a film shoot, saying that men too have "pride and dignity" and not just women.
The order and observation by Justice P V Kunhikrishnan came while allowing the anticipatory bail plea moved by the actor against whom the case was lodged in September this year after the release of the Justice Hema Committee report.
In his plea, Menon had contended that the complaint was made after a gap of 17 years from the date of the alleged incident in 2007 and the intention was to malign his image.
The court said there was "force" in his arguments as it was an admitted fact that the alleged incident happened in 2007.
"It is an admitted fact that the victim filed the complaint after 17 years of the alleged incident. It is an admitted fact that the petitioner (Menon) is a known cine artist. He directed about 40 films and he obtained two National Awards. He was honoured by the nation by giving Padma Shri also.
"Based on the statement of a lady, that also after 17 years, the present case is registered. It is true that the investigation is going on. But, everybody must remember that the pride and dignity is not only to women, but to men also. I leave it there," Justice Kunhikrishnan said.
The court further said that it was a fit case to grant bail to the petitioner "in the interest of justice".
It directed Menon to appear before the investigating officer within two weeks from Wednesday to undergo interrogation.
"After interrogation, if the Investigating Officer (IO) proposes to arrest the petitioner (Menon), he shall be released on bail on executing a bond for a sum of Rs 50,000 with two solvent sureties each for the like sum to the satisfaction of the arresting officer concerned," the court said.
It further directed that Menon shall appear before the IO for interrogation as and when required, shall cooperate with the investigation and "shall not, directly or indirectly make any inducement, threat or promise to any person acquainted with the facts of the case so as to dissuade him from disclosing such facts to the court or to any police officer".
The complainant had made the allegations against Menon in the wake of the Justice Hema Committee's report being released.
Based on the complaint, an FIR under sections 354 (assault of criminal force to woman with intent to outrage her modesty), 509 (word, gesture or act intended to insult the modesty of a woman) and 506 (criminal intimidation) of the IPC was registered against Menon.
The actor was given interim protection from arrest by the court on October 30 and it was extended from time to time till Wednesday when his plea was allowed.
The Justice Hema Committee was constituted by the Kerala government after the 2017 actress assault case.
The complete report of the committee was placed before the Kerala High Court which directed that it be handed over to the special investigation team (SIT) that was constituted to probe complaints of sexual abuse in the film industry.
