Kerala High Court refuses to quash case against Major Ravi over 'sexually colored' remarks

The Kerala High Court recently refused to quash a criminal case against former army officer and Malayalam film director AK Raveendran, popularly known as Major Ravi, for allegedly making sexually colored remarks against a TV news anchor in 2016 [AK Raveendran@Major Ravi v State of Kerala and anr]..Justice PV Kunhikrishnan opined that Major Ravi should prove his innocence in a criminal trial. The Court added that actions by celebrities like Major Ravi are closely observed by the common people, making it crucial for them to weigh their words carefully."The petitioner was an army officer and also is a celebrity. The common people will usually watch them and their words. While making speech and statements, it is the duty of such people to be careful. Facing trial in this case is an opportunity to the petitioner to prove his innocence. If the petitioner is sure that no offence is committed by him, he should prove it before jurisdictional court instead of rushing to the High Court to invoke the extraordinary jurisdiction under Section 482 Cr.P.C.," the Court said. .Major Ravi was accused of defaming and making sexually colored remarks during a public speech at BTH Hotel, Ernakulam against the Chief Coordinating Editor of Asianet News, Sindhu Sooryakumar. The 2016 case against him cited charges under Section 354A (sexual harassment), Section 500 (defamation), and Section 501 (printing or engraving defamatory matter) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), along with Section 120(o) (causing a nuisance through communication) of the Kerala Police Act (KP Act).Major Ravi approached the Kerala High Court to quash the charges, arguing that even if the allegations in the police report were accepted, they did not constitute any offence..The Court found merit in Major Ravi's argument that in view of Section 199 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC), the magistrate made a mistake in taking cognizance of the defamation charges based only on a police report, and without any complaint.However, the Court declined to quash the remaining charges, opining that these allegations warranted a trial. "Whether the statement made by the petitioner in the speech amounts to ‘sexually coloured remarks’ as stated in Section 354A (1) (iv) IPC is a matter of evidence," the Court said.It was further observed that the principle of "falsus in uno, falsus in omnibus" (false in one thing, false in everything) does not apply to judicial orders. Thus, the remaining charges would not be set aside merely because the defamation charges were improperly taken up, the High Court said..The Court proceeded to quash the trial court order taking cognizance of the charges concerning defamation, but upheld the cognizance of the charges under Section 354A, IPC and Section 120(o) of the Kerala Police Act. .Major Ravi was represented by advocates S Rajeev, KK Dheerendrakrishnan, D Feroze, and V Vinay.Advocates VV Nandagopal Nambiar represented Sindhu Sooryakumar.Senior Public Prosecutor Advocate Renjith TR appeared for the State..[Read Order]