The Kerala Excessive Court docket on Thursday cancelled the anticipatory bail granted to creator Civic Chandran in a sexual harassment case, reported Stay Legislation.
Justice A Badharudeen handed the order whereas listening to a petition by the Kerala authorities and the complainant difficult the anticipatory bail granted to Chandran by the Kozhikode Periods Court docket. The petitioners argued that the order was in opposition to the spirit of the SC/ST Prevention of Atrocities Act.
Final week, a single-judge bench of the Kerala Excessive Court docket had expunged remarks made by the periods courtroom choose S Krishna Kumar that the legislation about outraging a lady’s modesty didn’t apply if she was wore a “sexually provocative gown”.
Nevertheless, the Excessive Court docket had upheld the order granting the anticipatory bail.
On August 2, the periods courtroom had granted anticipatory bail to Chandran in a case through which a Dalit lady author had accused him of trying to molest her. The creator had been booked beneath Part 354 of the Indian Penal Code in addition to provisions of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act.
Nevertheless, Choose Kumar had stated that to ensure that the SC/ST Prevention of Atrocities Act to be relevant, the accused individual must know that the lady belonged to a Scheduled Caste or Scheduled Tribe.
In his order, Kumar had stated that offences beneath the SC/ST Prevention of Atrocities Act wouldn’t prima facie stand in opposition to the 74-year-old because it “is very unbelievable that he’ll contact the physique of the sufferer absolutely realizing that she is member of Scheduled Caste”.
On August 12, Civic obtained anticipatory bail in one other case of alleged sexual harassment, through which a lady accused him of sexually harassing her on a seashore in February 2020. Whereas granting him pre-arrest bail, the periods courtroom had noticed that Part 354 of the Indian Penal Code (outraging of a lady’s modesty) wouldn’t be relevant if the lady was sporting a “sexually provocative gown”.
