New Delhi, Dec. 31 -- The Supreme Court has exempted Kerala-based journalist Aravindan Manikoth from surrendering to custody in a 2013 criminal case in which he was convicted of making sexually coloured remarks against a former municipal chairperson.
Justice SVN Bhatti on November 20 last took note of the fact that Manikoth had already paid the compensation directed by the trial court and that the sentence awarded was only imprisonment till the rising of the court, a symbolic sentence. In view of this, the court granted him protection from surrender.
Subsequently, on December 15, a bench comprising Justice M.M. Sundresh and Justice SC Sharma issued notice to the State of Kerala on Manikoth's petition.
The bench clarified that the interim...