Kochi, 03 June (H.S.):The Kerala High Court on Wednesday granted transit anticipatory bail to Mohammed Farmaan, husband of the woman who shot to fame on social media during the Kumbh Mela, giving him one month to approach a competent court in Madhya Pradesh and seek regular anticipatory bail in a criminal case registered there.

Justice Kauser Edappagath passed the order while disposing of a plea filed by the interfaith couple seeking protection from arrest. The court directed that Farmaan, the first petitioner in the case, shall not be arrested for a period of one month, enabling him to move the jurisdictional court in Madhya Pradesh and pursue legal remedies in accordance with law.

“Bail application is disposed of with liberty to the applicant to approach the jurisdictional court and seek anticipatory bail within a period of one month from today. The applicant shall not be arrested till the expiry of the said one month,” the court observed.

The case stems from a complaint filed by the woman’s father before the Madhya Pradesh police. Based on the complaint, Farmaan has been booked under various provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), including allegations of abduction and forgery, besides offences under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, the Prohibition of Child Marriage Act, and the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act.

According to the prosecution, the woman was allegedly a minor at the time of the marriage and the marriage certificate produced by the couple was forged.

Appearing for the petitioners, advocate M. Sasindran argued that the couple had fallen in love while working together on video shoots and later married in Neyyattinkara in Kerala. He contended that the woman was an adult at the time of the marriage and produced documents, including her Aadhaar card, voter identity card and bank records, to support the claim.

The defence further alleged that the woman’s father filed the complaint after being influenced by “fundamentalist elements” in Madhya Pradesh. The couple also expressed apprehension of honour-based violence if they returned to the state.

The Madhya Pradesh authorities opposed the plea, arguing that the Kerala High Court lacked jurisdiction and citing a Supreme Court judgment on transit anticipatory bail. They also pointed out that offences under the SC/ST Act had been invoked, which ordinarily bars anticipatory bail under Section 18 of the Act.

The High Court had earlier granted the couple interim protection from arrest after examining the marriage certificate produced before it.

---------------

Hindusthan Samachar / Arun Lakshman