Vijay Babu rape case: SC refuses to interfere in pre-arrest bail granted to actor-producer

The Supreme Court on Wednesday refused to interfere with the anticipatory bail granted to Malayalam film producer-actor Vijay Babu who was accused in a rape case.

The Kerala government had moved the apex court against the pre-arrest bail granted to the accused. In the petition, the government submitted that the High Court had considered irrelevant facts and rejected relevant materials and circumstances.

The petition was heard by a vacation bench comprising Justices Indira Banerjee and JK Maheshwari. They stated that Vijay Babu should restrain from making social media posts in connection to the case and not leave Kerala without the court's permission. The accused was also ordered to not tamper with the evidence or try to interfere with any witness and not harass the victim.

Earlier, the High Court had restricted the investigation of Vijay Babu between June 27 and July 3. Now, the top court has observed that he may be interrogated beyond July 3, if necessary.

A female actor filed a complaint alleging that Vijay Babu had physically abused and sexually exploited her between March 13 and April 14. Soon after news broke about the sexual assault allegation, the accused went live on Facebook and revealed the survivor’s identity by openly naming her.

He also absconded to Dubai and later returned to India when his passport was impounded. On May 30, the Kerala High Court granted the accused interim pre-arrest bail.