Kerala High Court slams Boby Chemmanur for 'playing to gallery' by staying in jail despite bail

The Kerala High Court on Wednesday strongly criticised businessman Boby Chemmanur for continuing to remain in jail despite being granted bail on Tuesday in a sexual harassment case [CD Boby @ Dr. Boby Chemmanur v. State of Kerala].Justice PV Kunhikrishnan warned that he would cancel Chemmanur's bail and remarked that he seemed to be playing to the gallery under the pretext of protecting the rights of prisoners."You need not take the vakalat of remand prisoners for that; the judiciary and High Court are there protecting the interests of the remand prisoners...Don't play any drama with the Court. If I can release an accused, I know how to cancel the bail," the judge said.Chemmanur stayed in custody to show solidarity with prisoners unable to secure release due to procedural issues and informed his legal team that he would not leave prison until the matter was addressed..The Court also accused Chemmanur of attempting to gain media attention."He's playing with the High Court, and when an order is there, he is keeping it in his pocket. He wants media attention for his release and is creating stories. Why not issue an order canceling his bail? If you are not coming out of jail before 1 PM, I will cancel his bail."Soon after the Court made these comments, Chemmanur walked out of the jail..The Government Pleader told the Court that till 7 PM on Tuesday, no release order was submitted to the jail authorities. The release order had been issued by the Court around 4 PM.The Court then directed Chemmanur's counsel to be present before it by 12 PM to explain why the release order was not submitted on time to the jail authorities.As regards the allegations of sexual harassment against Chemmanur, the Court orally stated that it would order the investigation to be completed within two weeks. It further called for the trial to be concluded within six weeks and urged continuous monitoring by the investigating officer..Chemmanur is facing charges under Section 75 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (sexual harassment) and Section 67 of the Information Technology Act (publishing or transmitting obscene material electronically), in a case relating to allegations of sexually harassing a Malayalam actress during the inauguration of one of his jewellery stores in Kannur.The complainant has alleged further harassment through sexually suggestive remarks made on YouTube and other social media platforms..Update: At 2 pm, advocate Geo Paul, representing Chemmanur, told the Court that Chemmanur regrets his actions and that he will tender an unconditional apology as well."We cannot justify whatever has happened. We have spoken to Chemmanur. He is also feeling sad about it. It was a slip of the tongue as he was hounded by media... He is ready to tender an unconditional apology to the Court," Paul said. Justice Kunhikrishnan reiterated he concerns about Chemmanur seemingly "declaring war on the judiciary". The judge also pointed out that Chemmanur's public actions reflected poorly on all his counsel as well. Paul agreed with the concerns and assured the Court that he and the other counsel have strongly advised Chemmanur not to make any such comments to the media or on any platform going forward."We have expressed our concerns to him and warned him to never ever open his mouth in this way," Paul said.In light of the assurances given by Chemmanur's counsel, the Court ultimately decided to put and end to the matter. .Senior Advocate B Raman Pillai and advocates MR Dhanil, Geo Paul, Sujesh Menon VB, Senitta P Jojo, Vidhuna Narayanan and T Anil Kumar appeared for Chemmanur.