Making financial gains by acting in obscene scenes; HC stays proceedings against Swetha Menon 

KOCHI: Action has been taken on the plea filed by actress Swetha Menon in the Kerala High Court seeking quashing of the case for making financial gains by acting in obscene scenes in films. The high court completely stopped further proceedings in the case, saying that the interim order of the Ernakulam CJM court did not follow the procedure. The FIR was also stayed. The high court issued notices to the police and the complainant. A report has also been sought from the magistrate of the CJM court.

The central police registered the case on the directions of the Ernakulam CJM court on the complaint of public activist Martin Menachery. The complainant approached the court listing out many films like Rathinirvetham, Paleri Manikyam and Kalimannu and a condom brand advertisement alleging clips from these have appeared on social media and pornographic websites. It was also pointed out that the police were not investigating the complaint effectively. The CJM court ordered to register a case without seeking a police report regarding the investigation into this complaint. The high court assessed that this was not in accordance with the law.

Swetha Menon approached the high court today, seeking cancellation of the case registered under the IT Department and the Prevention of Obscenity Act. In the plea, Swetha said that the action against her was taken without examining the facts. She acted in films that were censored in the country. She had received awards for it. She had also clarified that she had not done anything illegal.

Swetha Menon is contesting for the post of president of AMMA, the Association of Malayalam Movie Artists. Such a case taken at this time is being suspected. There are also reports that some people in the film industry are behind the complaint.