Kochi: The Kerala High Court on Thursday granted anticipatory bail to the producers of the Malayalam film “Manjmel Boys” in an alleged cheating case about the agreement in sharing the film’s income.
Hearing the petition of the producers on Thursday, the High Court said that a coordination bench of the High Court had earlier denied a petition to quashed criminal proceedings, as the investigating officer lodged an objection in the case, saying that out of the amount invested by the complainant, a part was converted into the individual account of the accused. The High Court then stated that the relationship between parties is mainly ruled by commercial transactions and the dispute falls in the commercial sector.
“Since a learned single judge of this court has already refused to cancel the proceedings, it cannot be done that it is a purely professional dispute. An element of criminality can be said in existence. However, the question before this court is whether the same warrant is a custodial inquiry,” said this. After this it is believed that this is a case where Custodial inquiry is not necessary and it is further stated that “Since the distribution of profits and investment made by the parties is the source of this dispute, so I am considering that most of the cases that may be ruled by documentary evidence …”
Therefore, the High Court was of the opinion that limited custody of the petitioners could be provided in the case to complete the investigation and the petitioners could be asked to appear before the investigating officer from 10 am to 5 pm on 7 July, and if needed, on July 8 and they were also granted anticipatory bail.
The allegation against the manufacturers was that he cheated the complainant and invested him for Rs 7 crore on a promise that he would be paid 40 percent of the film’s profit, despite the film being a big hit.
In the High Court, while the producers argued that it was a purely commercial dispute, the public prosecutor presented that as per the investigation so far, the petitioners have indicated that in addition to the alleged crimes with Prima Facial that producers have tried to cover the offenses committed under the guise of a civil dispute to delay payment. Those who got interim relief included Shaun Anthony, Saubin Shahir and Shahir’s father. The complainant is Sirj Valiyathara Hameed.
