Kerala HC stays lower court's bail order for Civic Chandran in sexual harassment case
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The Kerala High Court on Wednesday stayed the Kozhikode district sessions court order granting anticipatory bail to the author and social activist Civic Chandran in a sexual harassment case, according to a Live Law report.
Justice Kauser Edappagath remarked that the observation of the lower under Section 354A of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) is not prima facie attracted when the woman was wearing sexually provocative dresses' cannot be justified.
The court added that "irrelevant materials (were) considered" to grant bail.
The Kozhikode Sessions Court order, which was passed on August 12, had created a massive social outrage as it had observations to the effect that 'sexual harassment complaints would not stand if the woman was wearing a "sexually provocative dress".
Following this, the Kerala government had approached the high court challenging the anticipatory bail on Wednesday
The state government had submitted the petition under Sections 482 and 439(2) of the CrPC and alleged that the findings and reasoning given by the Sessions Court in the anticipatory bail is suffering from illegality, and lack of sensitivity, sobriety, and perversity.
The government has contended in the petition that, "The conclusion drawn by the Kozhikode Sessions Court amounts to an infringement of the personal liberty of the victim and a violation of the right to life guaranteed under Article 21 of the Constitution." "The findings of the Court are, per se, illegal, unjust and have the effect of potentially exposing the survivor to secondary trauma. The Supreme Court decision about the dress, behaviors or past 'conduct' or 'moral' of the Prosecutrix should not enter the verdict while granting bail. The Sessions Court flouted all the guidelines issued by the Supreme Court and granted pre-arrest bail to the accused by making observations which were deprecated by the Supreme Court," the petition said.
The Sessions Court granted Civic Chandran anticipatory bail on August 12 in the sexual harassment case.