Supreme Court Dismisses Pleas Challenging Anticipatory Bail Granted To Actor-Producer Vijay Babu By Kerala High Court

The Supreme Court today dismissed the pleas by state and victim against Kerala High Court's order granting anticipatory bail to Actor-Producer Vijay Babu in Malayalam Actress Rape Case.

The Bench of Justice Indira Banerjee and Justice J. K. Maheshwari however, modified the bail conditions in the order of the Kerala High Court.

The Supreme Court modified the interrogation period which was originally ordered to be between June 27 to July 3 stating that the interrogation can be done even after July 3, as and when necessary. The Court added that no posts will be made by Vijay Babu on social media against the victim.

The plea by the state challenging the grant of anticipatory bail was mentioned yesterday before the vacation bench by Senior Advocate Jaideep Gupta stating that, "it is a matter in which anticipatory bail has been granted to a person who had initially ran away to Dubai and then to Georgia and returned to India only because his passport was impounded here."

Expressing urgency in the matter, he had submitted that "The order states that his interrogation is to be done from 27th June to 3rd July."

The Counsel for the complainant present before the bench added that, "He has gone on Facebook live and has mentioned my name to the whole world and is putting pressure to withdraw the complaint. Each day he spends out is a risk to me."

The Actor-Producer had gone abroad after the actress had filed a complaint in Ernakulam against him in April, laying accusations that he had raped her and had also beaten her up several times. Babu was, upon his return, arrested by the Kochi Police.

Babu had filed an application seeking anticipatory bail before the Kerala High Court while he was residing outside the country, which on 22nd June was allowed the same subject to conditions.  

The High Court had while allowing the anticipatory bail application also confirmed the maintainability of the application for anticipatory bail filed while the applicant is residing outside the country. Care must be taken to avoid consensual relationships being converted into instances of rape, the Kerala High Court had said while granting anticipatory bail to Vijay Babu.