The
Supreme
Court
on
Wednesday
refused
to
cancel
the
anticipatory
bail
granted
to
Malayalam
actor-producer
Vijay
Babu
in
an
alleged
rape
case
by
the
high
court
and
asked
him
not
to
leave
Kerala
without
prior
permission.
A
vacation
bench
of
Justices
Indira
Banerjee
and
JK
Maheshwari
modified
certain
bail
conditions
imposed
on
Babu
by
the
Kerala
High
Court
and
said
that
he
could
be
interrogated
by
the
police
in
connection
with
the
case
after
July
3,
if
required.
"After
hearing
counsel
appearing
for
the
respective
parties
and
after
considering
the
pleadings
and
other
materials
on
record,
we
are
not
inclined
to
interfere
with
the
impugned
order
allowing
the
prayer
of
the
Respondent
No.1
(petitioner
before
the
High
Court)
(Vijay
Babu)
for
grant
of
pre-arrest
bail",
the
bench
said.
The
bench
said
that
Babu
may
be
interrogated
as
and
when
necessary,
even
after
July
3,
2022,
and
he
shall
comply
with
all
other
conditions
imposed
by
the
High
Court
as
also
the
conditions
for
grant
of
pre-arrest
bail
enumerated
in
Section
438(2)
of
the
CrPC.
The
bench,
which
modified
the
conditions
said,
"The
respondent
No.
1
(i)
shall
not
leave
the
State
of
Kerala
without
prior
permission
of
the
jurisdictional
Court;
(ii)
shall
appear
before
the
Investigating
Officer
as
and
when
called;
(iii)
shall
not
contact
or
interact
with
the
victim
or
any
of
the
witnesses".
The
bench
further
said
that
Babu
shall
not
indulge
in
any
form
of
attack
on
the
victim
or
her
family
through
social
media
or
any
other
mode
and
shall
not
harass,
defame,
denigrate
or
ridicule
the
petitioner
or
the
members
of
her
family
in
any
manner
whatsoever
or
publish
or
post
any
comments,
writing,
picture,
etc.
concerning
the
incidents
in
the
social
media
or
otherwise.
It
said
that
he
shall
not
commit
any
other
offence
while
on
bail
and
shall
not,
directly
or
indirectly,
make
any
inducement,
threat,
or
promise
to
any
person
acquainted
with
the
facts
of
the
case
to
dissuade
him
from
disclosing
such
facts
to
the
Court
or
any
Police
officer.
The
bench
while
disposing
of
the
appeals
said
that
if
his
impounded
passport
of
Babu
is
returned
to
him
or
if
he
is
issued
with
a
fresh
passport,
he
shall
immediately
surrender
the
same
to
the
Investigating
Officer.
During
the
hearing,
senior
advocate
Jaideep
Gupta,
appearing
for
the
state
government,
said
that
Babu
is
an
influential
person
in
the
film
industry,
and
if
the
order
of
anticipatory
bail
is
not
set
aside,
he
may
influence
the
witnesses,
who
are
from
the
film
industry
or
tamper
with
evidence
pertaining
to
the
case.
He
said
that
the
order
needs
to
be
set
aside
as
it
restricts
the
investigating
agency
from
interrogating
him
for
a
fixed
time
frame.
The
bench
said,
"We
don't
think
that
grant
of
bail
is
unwarranted
but
yes
restricting
time
for
interrogation
is
unwarranted".
Gupta
said
that
Babu
has
deleted
the
WhatsApp
messages
for
a
15-days
period
which
pertains
to
the
time
of
the
incident.
The
bench
said
that
police
can
very
well
retrieve
those
messages
and
moreover
it
appears
that
the
victim
has
also
deleted
those
messages,
which
shows
some
kind
of
understanding
between
them.
Senior
advocate
R
Basant,
appearing
for
the
victim,
said
that
Babu
is
an
influential
personality
in
the
film
industry
and
used
his
dominant
position
to
assault
the
victim
who
is
in
her
20s
and
just
entered
the
film
industry.
He
said
Babu
has
disclosed
her
identity
on
Facebook
live
and
tried
to
pressurize
her
and
influence
the
witnesses.
Senior
advocate
Siddharth
Luthra,
appearing
for
Babu,
said
that
he
will
join
the
investigation
as
and
when
called
by
the
investigating
officer.
On
Tuesday,
the
bench
had
agreed
to
hear
pleas
of
the
Kerala
government
and
an
actress,
who
has
alleged
rape
by
Babu
challenging
the
grant
of
anticipatory
bail
to
him
by
the
high
court.
On
June
22,
the
high
court
granted
anticipatory
bail
to
Babu.
The
high
court
had
granted
Babu
relief
subject
to
the
conditions
that
he
shall
"surrender" before
the
investigating
officer
(IO)
on
June
27
for
interrogation.
He
can
be
interrogated
for
the
next
seven
days
from
then
till
July
3
and
he
shall
not
contact
or
interact
with
the
victim
or
any
of
the
witnesses
in
the
case,
it
had
said.
During
the
period
from
June
27
to
July
3,
he
shall
be
deemed
to
be
under
the
custody
of
police
"for
facilitating
the
requirements
of
investigation",
the
court
had
said
allowing
his
plea
seeking
anticipatory
bail
in
the
rape
case.
The
producer-actor
had
also
alleged
in
his
plea,
that
there
is
a
"trend"
of
making
allegations
against
anybody
to
tarnish
the
image
of
a
person,
who
is
popular
in
society
and
for
the
sake
of
publicity.
Babu
had
claimed
that
he
was
innocent
and
was
"highly
aggrieved"
by
the
one-sided
approach
of
the
authorities
to
make
him
a
"scapegoat
for
the
purpose
of
news
and
the
media".
The
woman,
who
had
appeared
in
movies
produced
by
Babu's
production
house,
lodged
a
complaint
with
the
police
on
April
22
and
detailed
through
a
Facebook
post
the
physical
assault
and
sexual
exploitation
she
had
allegedly
suffered
at
the
hands
of
the
producer-actor
for
the
past
one-and-half
months.