Mumbai: The Bombay High Court has directed Binoy Kodiyeri, son of CPM’s Kerala State Secretary Kodiyeri Balakrishnan, and a young woman hailing from Bihar who had raised sexual abuse charges against him to make their decision clear on certain issues on July 13.
The court issued the directive while considering pleas by Binoy and the complainant to allow them to settle the case out of court.
According to the court, both of them have to give a clear explanation on how the future of the child born to the woman would be made secure.
At the same time, to the court’s query on whether they were married, Binoy replied in the negative and the woman in the affirmative.
The court said that its judgment on the pleas for an out-of-court settlement could be announced only after considering the replies by Binoy and the woman on July 13 as well as their response to any further questions raised by the court.
Binoy's defence
Reacting to the latest developments, Binoy said that he had never denied being in a relationship with the woman. However, not all of the allegations raised by the woman were true, he added. “Efforts for a settlement were made considering the future of the child. The compromise formula cannot be revealed now. We are hopeful about a favourable verdict from the court,” he said.
Incidentally, Binoy has indirectly conceded to the parentage of the woman’s child when the result of a DNA test has been submitted confidentially before the court. Earlier, he had argued before the court that the woman’s allegation of fathering her child was false. Binoy had also urged the court to reject the woman’s plea. However, the court ordered a DNA test to confirm the parentage of the child.
What the complainant wants
Meanwhile, the woman in her present plea said that she was willing to settle the case if maintenance could be provided to the child as the litigation was dragging on and she had no means to live.
The case began when the woman filed a complaint at Oshiwara police station in Mumbai alleging that Binoy had sexually abused her after promising to marry her.