The Kerala High Court on Friday postponed hearing on the bail plea filed by prominent businessman Boby Chemmanur, who was arrested in a sexual harassment case registered against him, to Tuesday. The court highlighted the necessity for the state government to submit its response and expressed concerns about the urgency of the case, emphasising the importance of resolving other pending cases.

The court on Friday sought the response of the state government on the petition filed by Boby Chemmanur seeking bail in a sexual harassment case registered against him on a complaint by an actress. Boby was arrested and remanded in judicial custody on Thursday in the case.

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The Ernakulam First Class Judicial Magistrate Court on Thursday refused to grant bail to Boby Chemmanur, who was arrested by the police in a sexual harassment complaint filed by actress Honey Rose. The court remanded him in judicial custody for 14 days.

He has been charged with offences 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.

In his bail petition, Boby said that he was innocent and allegations against him were false. His arrest was illegal. There was undue haste in effecting the arrest by sending police officers to a place more than 250 km away from the police station where the FIR was registered and even before the statement of the complainant was recorded by the magistrate court. It showed that the arrest was made not for the purpose of investigation but on extraneous reasons to damage the reputation and business of the petitioner.