‘Dignity is for men also,’ says Kerala HC as it grants anticipatory bail to actor-director Balachandra Menon

Granting anticipatory bail to veteran actor and filmmaker Balachandra Menon in a case of alleged sexual assault, the Kerala High Court on Wednesday observed that “right and dignity is not only to a woman, but to men also”.

After the release of the Justice Hema Committee report – on the issues faced by women in the Malayalam film industry – in August, a woman actor had accused several film professionals of sexual misconduct, including Menon (70).

Justice P V Kunhikrishnan observed that the incident is alleged to have happened in 2007. “Petitioner (Menon, who sought anticipatory bail) is a known cine artist. He is also known as a film actor, director, and scriptwriter. Based on a statement of a lady, that too after 17 years, this case has been registered. It is true that investigation is going on, but everybody must remember that the right and dignity is not only to a woman but to men also. This is a fit case to grant bail to the petitioner in the interest of justice, ‘’ said the judge, granting anticipatory bail to Menon.