Kerala High Court gives interim protection from arrest to Akhil Marar over his Facebook Live on Indo-Pak conflict. Marar claims his comments were political analysis, not against national integrity.
On Tuesday, the Kerala High Court gave temporary protection from arrest to Malayalam film director and Bigg Boss Malayalam winner Akhil Marar.
This relief was given in a case where Marar was recently booked by the Kottarakkara Police for his comments related to the Indo-Pakistan conflict made during a Facebook Live session on May 11, 2025.
Justice Bechu Kurian Thomas of the Kerala High Court directed that Akhil Marar should not be arrested until his anticipatory bail petition is heard again on Wednesday, May 28.
The judge also told the prosecution to collect and present all necessary instructions about the case before the next hearing.
The police had filed a First Information Report (FIR) against Marar, stating that during his live video, he made false claims that India had “armed Baloch militants and killed civilians in Pakistan.”
The FIR also stated that Marar said “the Indian Army was a slave to another country.”
Further, Marar had allegedly compared the foreign policy approaches of former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi and the current Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the same video.
Due to these statements, he was booked under Section 152 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), which deals with acts that endanger the sovereignty, unity, and integrity of India.
In response, Marar filed a petition in the Kerala High Court requesting anticipatory bail.
In his plea, Marar said that he did not say anything in the video that would affect the country’s integrity or sovereignty. According to him, the video was only a “political analysis.”
He explained that the video was a reaction to a post made by journalist Anil K Nambiar of Janam TV, who had mocked him.
Marar said,
“The words quoted were based on publicly available sources, and the video was deleted soon after as I realised some comments could be misused by political opponents.”
Marar also explained that the Facebook Live was streamed in real-time, and though he deleted it later, the video stayed on his feed for a day before being completely removed.
To clear the confusion and avoid misinterpretation, he said he posted another Facebook message explaining what he had meant in the video.
Marar has also alleged that members of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) are now spreading the video clips and showing them in the wrong light to “build a false narrative” against him.
He added that he had earlier shown support for the Indian military. One such post titled “Operation Sindoor” was written by him to appreciate the Indian Army’s actions during the ongoing conflict with Pakistan.
Marar also said that Section 152 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita is being wrongly used against him in this case. He mentioned that he has always spoken against religious extremism and corruption in all political parties and has regularly shared his independent opinions on social media.
Because of this, he claims he has become a target of the cyber wings of both the BJP and the CPI(M) (Communist Party of India-Marxist).
During the court hearing, Marar’s legal team argued that the statements made during the Facebook Live session were well within the right to free speech and expression, which is protected under Article 19(1)(a) of the Indian Constitution.
The Kerala High Court then asked the prosecution to collect proper information and present their side, and the matter will now be heard on May 28.
Akhil Marar was represented by a team of lawyers including advocates Bimala Baby, Jasmine Ligy, Magi Pavithran, and Roshan Shaji.
Case Title:
Akhil Raj v. State of Kerala.
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