New Delhi, Apr 16 (PTI) The Supreme Court on Thursday granted anticipatory bail to a software firm owner accused of sexually harassing an employee and attempting to frame her and her husband in a criminal case.
A bench of Justices BV Nagarathna and Ujjal Bhuyan directed Venu Gopalakrishnan (50) of Kakkanad, who runs a Kochi-based software company, to extend complete cooperation in the ensuing investigation.
“Considering the facts and circumstances of the case, in our view, the accused/appellant is entitled to the relief claimed under Section 482 of BNSS. We, therefore, allow this appeal and set aside the impugned order passed by the High Court dated September 11, 2025, qua the appellant.
“We direct that in the event of arrest of the appellant, the arresting officer shall release the appellant on bail, subject to his furnishing a cash security in the sum of Rs 1 lakh with two like sureties,” the bench said.
The top court directed that Gopalakrishnan shall not misuse his liberty and shall not in any way influence the witnesses or tamper with the material on record.
“Any infraction of the aforesaid conditions may entail in cancellation of anticipatory bail granted to the appellant. It is needless to observe that the observations made in the present appeal shall not come in the way of the trial or other proceedings pending between the parties which shall be decided on their own merits and in accordance with law,” the bench said.
The Kerala High Court had on September 11 last year rejected the petition filed by Gopalakrishnan.
The case dates back to July, when the victim and her husband were arrested by police on allegations of attempting to honey-trap Gopalakrishnan.
After securing bail, the victim approached the court, claiming she had been falsely implicated.
The court then directed police to probe the matter, following which a fresh case was registered last month against Gopalakrishnan and three of his employees, namely Jacob Thampy, Eby Paul and Bimalraj Haridas, on charges of sexual harassment, outraging the modesty of a woman and criminal intimidation.
In its order, the high court had observed that Gopalakrishnan had committed a serious offence and noted the possibility of him using his influence to tamper with evidence or influence witnesses.
Gopalakrishnan had also been in the news for paying Rs 45.99 lakh to for the registration number of his Lamborghini Urus car. PTI PKS PKS AMJ AMJ
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