Anti-corruption activists get bail

 The Kozhikode Judicial First Class Magistrate Court on Wednesday dropped three non-bailable charges of sexual harassment in a case filed by K. Sini, CPI (M) councilor of the City Corporation, against five activists of the Azhimathi Virudha Janakeeya Munnani, an anti-corruption forum of residents.
The court also granted bail to the five respondents, K.P Vijayakumar, K.P. Sathyakrishnan, Andodi Anil Kumar, and  P. Valsarajan of the forum, and  Panayamparambil Lohithakshan of the East Nadakkavu Residents Association.
Earlier, the court had served notices on them based on a private complaint filed by Ms. Sini after the police had rejected her complaint terming it as a fabricated allegation.
The court posted the case to August 6 for further hearing.
Lawyers Saby Joseph, P.K. Bindhu, M.S. Saji and Jithin Pookkat appeared for the anti-corruption campaigners.
The charges dropped against them were Section 324 (punishment for wrongful confinement), 354 (assault or criminal force to woman with intent to outrage her modesty) and 509 (word, gesture or act intended to insult the modesty of a woman) of the Indian Penal Code.
Ms. Sini, representing Eranhipalam (Ward 64), had filed a petition through her counsel P.V. Hari that the five activists had sexually harassed her at her house at East Nadakkavu on March 29, 2011. But the police found her complaint false as she had been out of town on that day.
Investigators had detected that the tower location of her mobile device was elsewhere on that day. They had also given a report to the court seeking to file a case against her. However, she approached the court praying for a reinvestigation into her complaint. But the court rejected her contention.