The Kerala High Court, on Monday, November 4, has quashed the sexual harassment case against director VA Shrikumar, which was filed by prominent actor Manju Warrier in the Malayalam film industry. A single judge bench of Justice S Manu ruled that the charges against the director are unsustainable, while hearing a petition filed by Shrikumar seeking to quash the criminal case. Shrikumar was the director of the Mohanlal starrer Odiyan.
The case was registered in the Thrissur East police station in 2019. Shrikumar was booked under sections 354 D (stalking), 294(b) (obscene acts and songs), 509 (words, gesture or act intended to insult the modesty of a woman) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and section 120 (o) (causing nuisance to a person) of The Kerala Police Act.
According to the complainant, she had formed a charitable organisation and worked with Shrikumar’s advertisement agency 'PUSH' from 2013. However, due to some differences between them, the agreement between her organisation and the ad agency was terminated in 2017. The actor alleged that Shrikumar held a grudge against her for this. In 2018, when she acted in his film, she alleged that he behaved indecently with her and mentally harassed her. She also alleged that the director used a ‘filthy Malayalam word’ to abuse her, while they were in the Dubai airport.
The court relied on its earlier judgement by the Kerala High Court which said that to attract offences under section 354D of IPC, the man must have stalked the woman with an intention to outrage her modesty or to foster personal interaction despite a clear indication of disinterest by the woman. The court also ruled that a threat or abuse by a man towards a woman who has interpersonal issues is not stalking.
Regarding section 294 (b) of IPC, the court said that the said act took place in Dubai, outside India, and so needs a sanction by the Union government. The court also observed that she did not mention this in her initial complaint and reported it later.
When it came to section 509 of IPC, the judge said that just uttering unpleasant or abusive words without an intention to insult or intrude upon the privacy of the woman will not attract the charge. The last charge under 120 (o) of the KP Act, the court ruled that since it is a non-cognizable offence, the police cannot continue prosecution without obtaining permission. The court, thus, quashed all the proceedings against the director.