In a significant development, the Telangana High Court granted interim bail to Telugu film star Allu Arjun on Friday, in relation to the tragic stampede at the premiere of his latest movie “Pushpa 2”. The incident, which occurred at the Sandhya theatre in Hyderabad, resulted in the death of one woman, M Revathi, and left her 9-year-old son critically injured.
Justice Juvvadi Sridevi presided over the case and pointed out that Allu Arjun, who was merely attending the premiere with prior permission, could not be held prima facie responsible for the unforeseen tragedy. The Court dismissed the state’s claims that Arjun had any foreknowledge of the potential for such an incident. “Is he responsible for the tragedy that happened? What knowledge he is having? He has taken permission,” remarked Justice Sridevi during the proceedings.
The case against Arjun was filed following a complaint by the deceased woman’s family, citing offences under severe criminal sections, including culpable homicide not amounting to murder. However, the arguments presented by the defense stressed that the essential elements of criminal intent and the capacity to foresee or prevent the incident were lacking.
Senior Advocate Niranjan Reddy, representing Arjun, argued that similar incidents had occurred in the past involving public figures where courts had provided relief, drawing parallels to a case involving Bollywood actor Shah Rukh Khan. Reddy emphasized, “Allu Arjun was on a balcony, while the stampede occurred on the ground floor—there was no direct involvement or provocation from him akin to previous cases noted.”
Furthermore, the counsel for the theatre owner argued that there was no intention on their client’s part to cause harm, and that adequate notifications about the event had been provided to the police, which was contested by the prosecution.
The public prosecutor opposed the interim bail plea, stressing the gravity of the situation with a deceased victim and a child in critical condition, arguing that such cases should not be taken lightly. Despite these objections, the Court decided to grant interim relief to Arjun, citing the lack of immediate evidence of his direct involvement or criminal intent in the incident.
