SC grants bail to veteran actor, ex-MP Mohan Babu in journalist assault case
During the hearing, Mohan Babu’s counsel argued that the attack on the journalist was not intentional and it happened in a state of commotion at his residence
The Supreme Court on Thursday granted anticipatory bail to veteran Telugu film actor and former Rajya Sabha member Manchu Mohan Babu in a case related to an attempt to murder on a television journalist in Hyderabad on the night of December 10 last year, people familiar with the matter said.
A division bench of Justice Sudhanshu Dhulia and Justice Ahsanuddin Amanullah, which heard a special leave petition filed by Mohan Babu challenging the state high court order of December 23, which denied him anticipatory bail in the case.
During the hearing, Mohan Babu’s counsel argued that the attack on the journalist was not intentional and it happened in a state of commotion at his residence. He submitted that the actor would cooperate with the police investigation and that the journalist would be compensated.
The lawyer also brought to the notice of the bench that Mohan Babu is a Padma Shri awardee, a former member of Parliament and that he runs a university. Following these submissions, the bench granted anticipatory bail to the actor while directing him to cooperate with the ongoing probe.
On December 11, the Pahadishareef police on the outskirts of Hyderabad booked a criminal case against Mohan Babu for allegedly assaulting a 35-year-old journalist of a vernacular television channel at his residence at Jalpally village in Rangareddy district.
The incident took place when the journalist, M Ranjith, along with other journalists of other television channels had gone to the residence of Mohan Babu to cover an ongoing dispute between him and his younger son, Manchu Manoj.
When the reporters were questioning Mohan Babu about the dispute, he became agitated. He seized the microphone from Ranjith and hit him hard with the steel pipe and metallic logo of the channel on his head, resulting in a heavy bleeding.
Based on the complaint, the Pahadishareef police registered a case against Mohan Babu under Section 118 (1) (voluntarily causing hurt using dangerous weapons or substances) of the BNS. Next day, police changed the sections to attempt to murder.
The actor moved the high court seeking anticipatory bail, but a high court bench headed by Justice Vijay Sen Reddy on December 23 denied him the same. He immediately moved the Supreme Court, which on January 9, granted him interim relief and directed police to refrain from taking any coercive actions, until further orders.