'Made Sexually Coloured Advances & Remarks Prima Facie' : Kerala Court Remands Businessman Boby Chemmanur In Sexual Harassment Case

The Ernakulam Judicial First Class Magistrate Court II (today on January 09) refused to grant bail to businessman Boby Chemmannur who was accused in a sexual harassment complaint raised by a prominent Malayalam film actress. While doing so, the Court remanded the accused to 14 days judicial custody. The Court said that 'well-established prima facie case' has been set forth against him. It added that the accused had made physical contact and advances at the informant without her consent and indeed made remarks that were prima facie sexually coloured. The Court said that the quality of the informant's consent and the word-by-word scrutiny of the remarks and comments can be only done after proper appreciation of the evidence. To provide a brief background, it was the prosecution's case that at the inauguration of Chemmannur International Jewellers Showroom, Kannur, the accused sexually harassed the informant, who was invited as a guest for the event. This was followed by several other sexually coloured remarks about the informant on various YouTube channels and other social media platforms. Resultantly, the accused was arrested for the offences punishable under Section 75 (Sexual Harassment) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and Section 67 (publishing or transmission of obscene material in electronic form) of the Information Technology Act. Against this backdrop, the businessman had approached the Kerala Court seeking the grant of bail. He had argued that it cannot be said that the act was without the informant's consent as she had made a speech before the media. He contended that, in those videos, she was seen celebrating and commenting about the two-decade-long acquaintance with the accused. The accused also took the defence of videos shared by the informant of the incident through her social media accounts. However, the Court refused bail observing that the investigation was in its preliminary stage and that the petitioner/accused was a highly affluent businessman. Thus, the Court did not rule out the chances of influencing the witnesses or absconding of the accused if granted bail. The Court also marked that during the said event accused had addressed the informant as 'Kunthidevi', which again is another sexual innuendo. It refused to accept the accused's defence that the said remark reminded the informant of an actress, who played the role of 'Kunthidevi' in a television serial. The Court categorically stated that prima facie such comment was indeed a sexual innuendo, smartly disguised in the form of a poorly worded compliment. The Court also referred to a recent case wherein the Kerala High Court had observed that a man making comments about a woman's body structure calling it “fine” prima facie amounts to a sexually coloured remark. Regarding the delay in the filing of a complaint, the Court condoned the same and said that the informant had explained the reason for the said delay in her FIR. “According to her, she did not react at that moment, as she did not want to create a scene and as she had attended the function as a guest It is also stated in her FIS that on the same day itself, her mother had informed the programme co-ordinator one Mr.Shanavas Khan as to the mental agony faced by her due to the alleged actions of the petitioner/accused. Though, she did not take any legal steps against the petitioner/accused, he continuously made inappropriate and sexually coloured remarks against her at various instances. This prompted the public at large to also make sexually inappropriate comments about her on her social media posts and other online platforms, which became unbearable to her and thus, she was forced to approach the police.” Based on these counts, the Court denied bail and dismissed the present petition. Case name: CD Body @ Dr. Boby Chemmanur v. State of Kerala, C.M.P NO. 104/ 2025 Click here to read the order

'Made Sexually Coloured Advances & Remarks Prima Facie' : Kerala Court Remands Businessman Boby Chemmanur In Sexual Harassment Case

Gyanvi Khanna

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