Renjith moves high court seeking anticipatory bail

Kochi: Film director Renjith has approached the high court with a pre-arrest bail petition in a case which alleges that he outraged the modesty of a Bengali woman actor in 2009. The bench of Justice C S Dias will consider the plea on Wednesday.
The actor had filed a complaint with the Kochi city police commissioner via email, leading to a case against Renjith under IPC Section 354.In her complaint, the actor alleged that she was invited to Renjith's flat to discuss a movie in 2009. She alleged that during the discussion, Renjith inappropriately held her hand and attempted to touch other parts of her body with sexual intent.
Renjith's plea, filed through senior lawyer P Vijayabhanu, says that he had been falsely implicated. He pointed out that the alleged incident occurred in 2009, and at that time, the offence under Section 354 was bailable and punishable by imprisonment of up to two years. The punishment for this offence was enhanced in 2013.
Renjith claimed that the complaint stemmed from the actor's disappointment at not being chosen for the movie, possibly fuelled by vested interests aiming to remove him from his position as chairman of the Kerala Chalachitra Academy. He also noted that during the discussion at his flat, writer-actor Sankar Ramakrishnan and others were present, and their omission from the complaint indicated malafide intent, he alleged.
Renjith further contended that he had recently undergone a liver transplant surgery and required ongoing medical care. Given that the complaint related to an incident from 15 years ago, he argued that custodial interrogation was unwarranted.
HC seeks Govt's views on Siddique's plea
Meanwhile, the HC bench of Justice C S Dias has sought the state govt's view regarding the pre-arrest bail application of actor Siddique in a case where he is accused of raping an actor at the Mascot Hotel in Thiruvananthapuram in 2016. The bench scheduled the petition for Sept 12 but did not grant any interim relief, such as protection from arrest.
The Museum police in Thiruvananthapuram had registered a case against Siddique, including the charge of rape, based on a complaint by the actor with the state police chief. In his bail plea, Siddique contended that the allegations were false and claimed that the actor had subjected him to a prolonged campaign of harassment and false accusations since 2019.
Additionally, Siddique accused the Women in Cinema Collective of targeting him, alleging that some of its members have been hostile towards him since he began supporting Association of Malayalam Movie Artists and opposing what he describes as ‘divisive efforts within the film industry'.