SC Shields Mohan Babu from Arrest in Journalist Assault Case
The Supreme Court, in an interim order passed on Thursday, directed that no coercive action will be taken against veteran Tollywood actor Manchu Mohan Babu, who was booked under attempt to murder charges for allegedly attacking a television journalist at his residence on December 10.
New Delhi: The Supreme Court, in an interim order passed on Thursday, directed that no coercive action will be taken against veteran Tollywood actor Manchu Mohan Babu, who was booked under attempt to murder charges for allegedly attacking a television journalist at his residence on December 10.
The incident occurred after Mohan Babu became enraged when a reporter from a news channel asked him about an ongoing dispute with his actor son, Manchu Manoj. The former MP snatched the microphone from the journalist and attacked him with it while using abusive language.
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Interim Order and Future Hearings
Issuing notice on Mohan Babu’s plea challenging the December 23 decision of the Telangana High Court, which had dismissed his application for anticipatory bail, a bench of Justices Sudhanshu Dhulia and P.K. Mishra ordered the Rachakonda police to refrain from taking any coercive action against the petitioner.
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Senior advocate Mukul Rohtagi, representing Mohan Babu, stated that the actor had apologised for the incident and was willing to compensate the injured journalist. Justice Dhulia-led Bench asked the complainant’s counsel to seek instructions on whether the journalist desired compensation.
The matter is scheduled to be heard again after four weeks.
Details of the Incident
Mohan Babu had earlier moved the Telangana High Court for anticipatory bail on health grounds, citing heart and nerve-related health issues. However, his plea for pre-arrest bail was rejected.
According to the complaint filed by M. Satyanarayana, the reporter for Telangana news channel TV9, the confrontation started when Manchu Manoj and some journalists entered the house following a dispute with the bouncers. When the journalist questioned Mohan Babu about the dispute with his son, the actor became aggressive, grabbed the microphone, and struck the journalist in the head, causing a severe injury.
The journalist collapsed from the impact, and the bouncers subsequently expelled all the journalists from the premises. The injured reporter was admitted to a hospital in Shamshabad, where doctors confirmed that he had sustained three fractures in his zygomatic bone (cheekbone) and would require plastic surgery.
