New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Thursday granted anticipatory bail to a software company owner accused of sexually harassing an employee and trying to implicate her and her husband in a criminal case.
A bench of Justices BV Nagarathna and Ujjal Bhuyan directed Venu Gopalakrishnan of Kakkannad, who runs a Kochi-based software company, to extend full cooperation in the ensuing investigation.
“Considering the facts and circumstances of the case, in our opinion, the accused/appellant is entitled to the relief claimed under Section 482 of BNSS. We, therefore, allow this appeal and set aside the impugned order passed by the Supreme Court dated September 11, 2025, as the appellant.
“We direct that if the appellant is arrested, the arresting officer must release the appellant on bail, on the condition that he submits cash surety in the amount of $1 lakh with two similar guarantees,” the bench said.
The Supreme Court ordered that Gopalakrishnan not abuse his freedom and not in any way influence the witnesses or tamper with the recorded material.
“Any violation of the aforesaid conditions may lead to cancellation of the anticipatory bail granted to the appellant. It goes without saying that the observations made in the present appeal will not come in the way of the trial or other proceedings pending between the parties which will be decided on objective basis and in accordance with law,” the bench said.
On September 11 last year, the Kerala High Court had rejected the petition filed by Gopalakrishnan.
The case dates back to July, when police arrested the victim and her husband on charges of trying to frame Gopalakrishnan.
After obtaining bail, the victim went to court claiming that she had been wrongly implicated.
The court then ordered the police to investigate the matter, following which a fresh case was registered last month against Gopalakrishnan and three of his employees – Jacob Thampi, Ibi Paul and Bimalraj Haridas – on charges of sexual harassment, indecent assault on a woman and criminal intimidation.
The Supreme Court in its order observed that Gopalakrishnan had committed a serious crime and pointed out the possibility of him using his influence to tamper with evidence or influence witnesses.
Gopalakrishnan was also in the news due to the push $45.99 lakhs for the registration number of his Lamborghini Urus.
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