The Supreme Court on Wednesday upheld the anticipatory bail granted to expelled Congress MLA Rahul Mamkootathil in a case involving allegations of rape and forced abortion, while directing that certain observations made against the complainant by the Kerala High Court be removed from the record.
A bench of Justices M M Sundresh and N Kotiswar Singh dismissed the survivor’s plea challenging the Kerala High Court’s February 12 order that had granted Mamkootathil protection from arrest. At the same time, the court found it necessary to delete specific remarks made about the complainant.
“Though we are not inclined to interfere in the ultimate conclusion of the high court, the observations made qua the petitioner are not necessary. Accordingly, they stand expunged,” the bench said.
The survivor had argued before the Supreme Court that the High Court’s observations suggesting a consensual relationship could prejudice the trial proceedings.
The High Court, while granting anticipatory bail earlier, had held that the prosecution failed to establish the need for custodial interrogation of the MLA. Justice Kauser Edappagath had observed that the complainant’s conduct “prima facie suggests the existence of a consensual sexual relationship” with Mamkootathil, while clarifying that the issue would ultimately be decided during trial.
The High Court had also remarked that it was “difficult to believe” that the complainant, described as a married and mature woman, would have invited the MLA to her apartment and later travelled to Palakkad to stay with him unless she was willing to engage in a physical relationship.
The order came on Mamkootathil’s plea challenging a Thiruvananthapuram sessions court decision denying him anticipatory bail.
Mamkootathil has been protected from arrest in the case since December 6, 2025. This is the first sexual assault case registered against him, although he is also accused in two other similar cases.
While he secured protection from arrest in two of the three cases, he was arrested in the third case and remained in custody for over two weeks before being granted regular bail.
