Kerala HC grants bail to Boby Chemmanur

Kerala High Court grants bail to businessman Boby Chemmanur in sexual harassment case, charged with obscene material transmission.

The Kerala High Court granted bail on Tuesday (January 14, 2025) to businessman Boby Chemmanur, in the sexual harassment case that was registered against him on a complaint by a woman actor.

He had been arrested in connection with the case, and remanded in judicial custody on Thursday after the Ernakulam Chief Judicial Magistrate Court dismissed his bail plea. Apart from sexual harassment (Section 75 of BNS), Mr Chemmanur had been charged with publishing or transmission of obscene material in electronic form, under S.67 of the Information Technology Act.

While granting him bail, the High Court refused to accept his contention that there was no double meaning to references he had made against the actor. Opposing the bail, the public prosecutor said the businessman often made indecent references in public.

The court said that any Malayalee who read the First Information Statement can easily understand that the words used by Mr Chemmanur were with double meanings. “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 etc must be avoided. People’s bodies, minds and hearts will change. Everybody must be vigilant about making comments about others, whether they are men or women.”

The bail conditions include executing a bond for ₹50,000, with two solvent sureties each for the like sum.