AMMA row: Kerala HC issues notice to Ansiba Hassan in Lakshmi Priya’s plea to quash intimidation FIR

Kochi: The Kerala High Court on Monday issued notice to actor Ansiba Hassan on a petition filed by actor Lakshmi Priya and her husband Jayesh seeking to quash a criminal intimidation case registered on the basis of Hassan’s complaint.

Justice Jobin Sebastian issued the notice while considering the petition filed by Lakshmi Priya and Jayesh, who are the first and second accused in the case registered at the Hill Palace police station. A woman Sub-Inspector attached to the Vanitha Cell, Tripunithura, is the third accused.

The FIR was registered based on a private complaint filed by Hassan. According to the complaint, the Sub-Inspector had summoned Hassan to the Vanitha Cell in connection with a complaint filed by Lakshmi Priya, who had alleged that Hassan sent her messages that disrupted her family life.

Hassan alleged that she was made to wait at the Vanitha Cell for about an hour on January 31 before being called into the officer’s cabin for questioning. She further alleged that the officer threatened to put her in jail and register a criminal case against her.

The complaint also alleges that Lakshmi Priya arrived at the cell during the questioning and, in the presence of the officer, questioned Hassan and attempted to force her to apologise to Jayesh over the phone. It further alleges that Hassan was made to sign documents stating that the dispute between the actors had been amicably settled.

The accused have been booked under various provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), including Sections 127(2) (wrongful confinement), 198, 199(a), 199(b), 201, 217(b), 336 (forgery), 351 (criminal intimidation), and 61 (criminal conspiracy), besides Section 116(b) of the Kerala Police Act, which deals with illegal seizure, detention, search or arrest causing annoyance without reasonable cause.

‘No specific overt act’
Lakshmi Priya and Jayesh have contended before the High Court that the allegations against them are false and do not disclose any criminal offence. The petitioners also alleged that Hassan had subsequently taken her grievances to the Association of Malayalam Movie Artists (AMMA) and raised allegations against several members.

The petition states that Hassan’s grievance was primarily against the woman police officer, who had intervened in a complaint filed by Lakshmi Priya. It further claims that Hassan had voluntarily participated in the proceedings and signed the settlement agreement.The petitioners have also pointed to an alleged delay of around five months in filing the complaint and argued that no specific culpable act has been attributed to them.

The petition was filed through advocates C P Udayabhanu and Navaneeth N Nath. The case comes amid a series of complaints involving Hassan and other members of the film industry.

Recently, the Judicial First Class Magistrate IX, Ernakulam, ordered a police probe into a private complaint filed by Hassan against Lakshmi Priya and two representatives of CAN Channel, alleging sexually coloured remarks and circulation of objectionable content.

In another case, the Judicial First Class Magistrate VIII, Ernakulam, directed the Kadavanthra police to register an FIR based on Hassan’s complaint against actor Tini Tom, alleging that he abused her using words including “Jihadi”.
(With LiveLaw inputs.)