'Pushpa 2' stampede: Bail granted to Telugu star Allu Arjun but actor to stay in jail overnight

Hyderabad: In a daylong high drama on Friday, Hyderabad police arrested pan-India actor Allu Arjun in the afternoon but the Telangana High Court granted him interim bail for four weeks. But the actor will not be able to go home for the night.

The Telugu superstar will spend the night in the Chanchalguda prison because the jail authorities received the bail order late in the night. According to the jail manual, there are restrictions on releasing prisoners at night.

He is currently housed in the Manjeera block, having been granted special class status by the Nampally court that previously remanded him.

Chikkadapally police on Friday afternoon went to Arjun's residence in Jubilee Hills and arrested him in connection with the stampede that had taken place at Sandhya Theatre on the night of December 4 during the screening of the premiere show of his latest release, Pushpa 2: The Rule. A stampede had taken place at a time when Arjun had visited the theater to watch the movie with the fans, and the crowd swelled to catch a glimpse of their favorite actor.

The stampede claimed the life of 35-year-old M Revathi, while her 9-year-old son, Sree Tej, sustained severe injuries and is currently receiving treatment at a hospital. Following the incident, Chikkadapally police had registered an FIR against the management of Sandhya Theatre, located in RTC X Roads, Allu Arjun, and his security staff.

They were booked under sections 105 and 118 (1) of the BNS Act for negligence and failure to ensure public safety. So far police have arrested seven persons, including those belonging to the movie theatre management and Arjun's staff. A day after the incident, Arjun condoled the death and announced Rs 25 lakh aid to the family of Revathi.

Interestingly, on Friday, after hearing about Arjun's arrest, Revathi's husband, Bhaskar, expressed his willingness to withdraw the complaint that led to the actor's arrest.

Immediately after his arrest, Arjun's lawyers had moved a lunch motion petition in the state high court seeking an urgent hearing of a quash petition that the actor filed two days ago. Arjun, two days ago, filed a petition in the high court seeking to quash the FIR registered against him in the stampede incident.

Despite the high court admitting the petition, it did not schedule the quash petition for hearing. His lawyers promptly moved a lunch motion on Friday, following the arrest. Even before the high court began hearing the quash petition, the police produced Arjun before the Nampally court magistrate, requesting remand.

The Namapally court, after hearing the arguments of both sides, had ordered a 14-day remand for Arjun. The actor was also moved to Chanchalguda jail, and he returned from the prison in no time with the high court's interim bail order.

Arjun underwent medical tests at Gandhi Hospital prior to his transfer to Namapally court. Large crowds of Arjun's fans gathered at Chikkadpally police station, Gandhi hospital, Namapally court, and Chanchalguda jail.

While granting limited-period interim bail, the High Court questioned the necessity of the actor’s detention, stating, “Can his personal liberty be deprived just because he is an actor? On this earth, he has the right to life and liberty. It can’t be taken away by virtue of being an actor. It’s actually bothering me. Just because he is an actor, can he be held like this? There are no ingredients in the case that warrant such actions,” said the High Court bench of justice Juvvadi Sridevi.

In the high court, Niranjan Reddy, the counsel for Allu Arjun, presented the cases of Bollywood actor Shah Rukh Khan and news anchor Arnab Goswami.

"In Arnab's case, court was approached after the arrest was made. I had approached the court prior to the arrest. SC says when there is no prima facie case, the court can grant interim bail. Deprivation of liberty for even one day is one too many. First, before Allu Arjun came, the cops were trying to move the persons; second, the actor and the victim were not even on the same floor. I cannot accept the notion that this was a culpable homicide. If something goes wrong, the police will say we are not responsible; somebody else is responsible. This is a complete travesty and infringement of my personal liberty. What SC says is very clear: Interim orders are permitted,” argued Niranjan Reddy.

Niranjan Reddy also recalled a case where Shah Rukh Khan was once charged with culpable homicide after a stampede occurred during promos for Raees and because he threw t-shirts to the crowd. Reddy recalled that the Gujarat High Court and Supreme Court granted Khan bail and relief.

The High Court had posted the quash petition hearing to December 21.

The countrywide release of Allu Arjun's Pushpa 2: The Rule in several languages last week has been a massive success, grossing over Rs 1,000 crore at the box office so far.