Kerala High Court grants relief to Film Director accused of 'casting couch'

The Kerala High Court has granted bail to a director of feature films, who allegedly induced an aspiring film actress to visit a film production office under the guise of offering her a role, only to subsequently restrain and molest her.

A bench of Justice Jobin Sebastian has granted bail on the following conditions:

1. The petitioner shall execute a bond for Rs.50,000/- (Rupees fifty thousand only) with two solvent sureties each for the like sum to the satisfaction of the jurisdictional Court.
2. The petitioner shall appear before the investigating officer on every Monday between 10:00 a.m. and 12:00 p.m. for a period of three months or until the final report is filed, whichever occurs first.
3. The petitioner shall not, directly or indirectly, contact the de facto complainant by any means, including electronic communication, nor shall he attempt to intimidate, influence, or interfere with her, or tamper with any evidence.
4. The petitioner shall also appear before the investigating officer as and when required and shall co-operate with the investigation.
5. The petitioner shall not commit any offence while on bail.
6. The petitioner shall surrender his passport before the jurisdictional Magistrate within seven days of his release from jail. If he has no passport, he shall file an affidavit to that effect before the jurisdictional Magistrate.
7. If the petitioner violates any of the above conditions, the investigating officer shall be at liberty to file an appropriate application for cancellation of bail before the jurisdictional court. Upon such application being filed, the jurisdictional court may pass appropriate orders, notwithstanding the fact that the bail was granted by this Court.

An application seeking bail was filed under Section 483 of Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita by the sole accused in Crime No.749/2025 of Ernakulam South Police Station registered, alleging an offence punishable under Sections 74, 75(1), and 126(2) of Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita.

The Prosecution alleged that the accused, with the intention to satisfy his lust, invited the de facto complainant, who was aspirant to act in films, to come to the office of a film production company named Way Farer Films Pvt. Ltd., functioning at Fore Castle building near Panampally Nagar and promised to give an opportunity to act in a filim in which Dulquar Salman was doing the lead role. Accordingly, when the de facto complainant reached the said office, on 11.10.2025, at 7.00 p.m., the accused took the de facto complainant to room No.304 of the said building under the pretext of discussing the story of the said film and grabbed both her breasts of the de facto complainant after wrongfully restraining her and thereby outraged her modesty.

"A perusal of the available records indicates a prima facie case of "casting couch" practices, wherein the accused allegedly lured the complainant into a room under the pretext of discussing a script. Given the specific allegation that the accused outraged the modesty of the complainant by physical molestation, such conduct constitutes a serious affront to the dignity of women. Consequently, offences of this nature, which exploit professional aspirations for sexual gratification, must be dealt with by the Court with a heavy hand", the High court noted.

However, the bench found that the accused petitioner was arrested on 03.12.2025 and had been in judicial custody since then. The medical examination, including the potency examination of the accused, had reportedly been completed. The investigation had crossed its major and crucial stages, and, therefore, further judicial incarceration of the petitioner would not serve any useful purpose, the bench said.

Moreover, it noted that the presence and cooperation of the accused during the ongoing investigation could be adequately ensured by imposing stringent conditions and thus granted bail to the petitioner.

Case Title: DHINIL BABU vs STATE OF KERALA