Sarja moves HC to quash FIR against him

Actor Arjun Sarja has moved the High Court of Karnataka for the quashing of an FIR registered against him following a complaint by his co-actor Sruthi Hariharan.

The Cubbon Park police have booked the multilingual actor under IPC sections 354 (assault or criminal force to a woman with intent to outrage her modesty), 354A (sexual harassment) and 509 (word, gesture or act intended to insult the modesty of a woman).

Sarja approached the court anticipating coercive action by the police. He also sought an interim order staying all proceedings arising out of the FIR or an order to save him from any coercive action.

In his petition, Sarja maintained that he had contended good conduct as an actor, director and producer over the last 36 years, commanding respect from everyone. Sruthi’s Facebook post and subsequent incidents put him and his family to deep distress and embarrassment. They have been subjected to “humiliation” in public. The “false and highly damaging post” caused a “serious damage” to his reputation and goodwill, the petition said.

The actor’s lawyers and experts also claimed that Sruthi’s post was uploaded abroad while she was in India, it added. He said the actor’s e-mail IDs and social media accounts were cloned and illegal tagging was done.