EP Jayarajan autobiography case: Kerala High Court slams DC Books but grants relief to editor

The Kerala High Court on Monday granted anticipatory bail to Sreekumar AV, a senior Deputy Editor with Malayalam publishing house DC Books, in a case over unauthorised publication of CPI(M) leader EP Jayarajan's autobiography [Sreekumar AV v State of Kerala & Anr].Justice PV Kunhikrishnan said Sreekumar's arrest may not be necessary as the offences against him carry a maximum sentence of only five years.In this regard, the single-judge relied upon Supreme Court's decision in Arnesh Kumar v State of Bihar in which it was held that arrests in cases where the maximum punishment does not exceed seven years should only be made when absolutely necessary."Therefore, I am forced to grant bail to the petitioner, of course reluctantly," the Court said as it also gave a prima facie opinion that the offences alleged are made out..The single-judge expressed surprise at the publisher's conduct and stressed that Investigating Officer is free to probe the matter and find those responsible for the alleged actions."I am surprised to see that DC Books, one of the establishments that released several Malayalam books, published such a notice without the consent of the writer. This Court put a question to the Senior Counsel whether any consent was obtained from the writer of the book for publishing such a notice. The learned Senior Counsel submitted that the petitioner is not responsible, but there is nothing to show that such a consent was given by the writer of the book. That itself shows the seriousness of the case," the judge added..The case stemmed from a complaint filed by Jayarajan alleging that his autobiography was being published by DC Books without his approval.He denied having given any authorization for the publication, title selection or release date of the book titled 'Kattan Chayayum Parippuvadayum - Oru Communistinte Jeevitham'.Following this, a case was registered against the accused under Section 72 (penalty for breach of confidentiality and privacy) of the Information Technology Act, 2000 (IT Act) and Sections 316(2) (criminal breach of trust) and 318(2) (cheating) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhitha, 2023 (BNS).Fearing arrest, Sreekumar approached the Court seeking anticipatory bail..Sreekumar argued that his role was limited to forwarding the book material received by him from a journalist to the editorial board, which then decided the title and publication schedule. He submitted that he had no personal involvement in the unauthorized publication as he was merely performing his professional duties.However, the prosecution argued that Sreekumar's custodial interrogation was necessary to uncover the full extent of his involvement.It was further submitted that media persons, who carried the news regarding the book, are also to be questioned in the matter..However, the Court opined that no offence was committed by the media."I do not think that the media is responsible for this publication, especially because the DC Books itself published a notice in their website stating that the book will be released on a particular date and the said news is carried out by the media. Therefore, there is no offence made out against the media," it said..Senior counsel K Ramkumar along with advocates Ramprasad Unni, SM Prasanth, Shehin S, Devika S and Reshma Das P represented Sreekumar.Senior Public Prosecutor Noushad KA appeared for the State..[Read Order]