'Manjummel Boys' fraud: Kerala HC grants Soubin, others bail

Kochi: The Kerala High Court has granted actor Soubin Shahi, his father Babu Shahir and others anticipatory bail in a case of financial fraud linked to the production of the super hit Malayalam movie ‘Manjummel Boys’. The court clarified that there is no need to keep them in custody for questioning, and if they are arrested, they must be released on bail immediately.

Earlier, the Kerala Police had filed an affidavit in the High Court requesting it not to grant anticipatory bail to actor Soubin Shahir and his co-accused. In the affidavit, they told the court that there was substantial evidence suggesting that the accused had committed deliberate financial fraud during the production of ‘Manjummel Boys’.

According to the case, based on a complaint filed by one Siraj of Aroor, the accused committed large-scale financial misappropriation in the name of the film’s production. Siraj has alleged in his complaint that he had invested Rs 7 crore in the film project in the expectation of receiving profit shares. However, he did not receive the amount he invested nor any share of the film’s profit.

Siraj accused the accused of falsely convincing him that the first schedule of the film had been completed even before the shoot began. Police argued that the mentioned alleged deception was a planned act to extract money under false pretences.

According to police, an investigation into the matter revealed that the accused inflated the production’s cost. When the producers claimed that the film cost Rs 22 crore to make, the police report states that only 18.65 crore was actually spent.

Earlier, the high court had rejected the accused’s plea to dismiss the case entirely.