Kerala High Court Grants Anticipatory Bail To Advocate B A Aloor For Allegedly Sexually Assaulting Minor Child

“Having noticed the facts of this case in the above line, directing the petitioner to subject himself for interrogation, the petition can be allowed by imposing necessary conditions”, stated Justice A. Badharudeen.

FIR was registered against the Advocate Aloor by the Ernakulam Central Police Station under Sections 354A(1)(i) (Sexual harassment and punishment for sexual harassment) and 506 (punishment for criminal intimidation) of the Indian Penal Code and Sections 8 (punishment for sexual assault) and 7 (sexual assault) of the POCSO Act.

The Counsel for the petitioner submitted that the Court had allowed his earlier bail application for allegedly sexually harassing the mother. It was submitted that the present complaint was lodged one year from the alleged date of occurrence to implicate Advocate Aloor in a non-bailable offence. It was submitted that Advocate Aloor was innocent and ready to cooperate with the investigation.

The Counsel for the de facto complainant submitted that the delay in registering the crime was explained since the minor child divulged the details about the occurrence only now when the police referred her to the Child Welfare Committee in connection with the earlier case.

The Court stated that the delay in registration of the case could not be explained from the records of the case. It stated that the long delay in lodging the present complaint and not disclosing the alleged incident when the earlier case was filed were mitigating factors in the prosecution case. It added, “However, I am not inclined to comment on the merits of the case, and I leave the same to the domain of the Investigating Officer, for effective investigation, as per law.”

The Court thus allowed the anticipatory bail application and enlarged the petitioner on bail by imposing necessary conditions. The Court directed the petitioner to cooperate with the investigation by subjecting him to interrogation and medical tests. It also directed that the petitioner shall not disturb or deal with the mother and minor child and shall not interfere with the investigation.

Counsel for Petitioner: Advocates C P Udayabhanu, Navaneeth N Nath, Rassal Janardhanan A, Abhishek M Kunnathu, Boban Palat, P U Pratheesh Kumar, P R Ajay, K U Swapnil

Counsel for Respondents: Senior Public Prosecutor Renjith George, Advocates B Pramod, Biju Vigneswar, Athul M V

Case title: Biju Antony Aloor @ B.A. Aloor v State of Kerala

Case number: B. A. No. 1634 of 2024

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