The police, on Wednesday, gave an undertaking to the Karnataka High Court that they “will not precipitate” a criminal case, registered against actor Arjun Sarja in connection with a complaint of alleged sexual harassment lodged by actor Sruthi Hariharan, till the next date of hearing on the petition filed by Mr. Sarja.
Justice P.S. Dinesh Kumar, after recording the undertaking given by a government counsel, agreed to adjourn further hearing on the petition till November 28 following a joint request made by the counsel representing Mr. Sarja and the police.
In its interim order of November 2, the court had restrained the police from arresting Mr. Sarja after noticing that the complaint had been filed after a lapse of three years, and had adjourned further preliminary hearing till November 14. On Wednesday, it was pointed out that the counsel representing both the sides had certain inconvenience to continue arguments.
Among other contentions, it has been claimed in Mr. Sarja’s petition that Ms. Sruthi had lodged a “false” complaint against him with “a clear intention of trickery and as a measure of shielding a counter-attack to escape legal actions initiated against her” by him in connection with her allegation of sexual harassment. It was also claimed in the petition that the allegation was levelled after three years only with an intention to “gain popularity” under #MeToo campaign, by falsely portraying herself as a victim.
