The Supreme Court on Wednesday granted anticipatory bail to the Indian Youth Congress president Srinivas BV in a case of allegedly causing mental agony registered by an expelled woman party member.

A bench of Justice B R Gavai and Justice Sanjay Karol granted anticipatory bail to Srinivas and asked him to cooperate with the investigation and appear before police on May 22.

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Issuing notice to Assam government and others, the bench posted the matter for hearing on July 10.

Protecting Srinivas from arrest, the bench noted that there was a delay of one month in the filing of the FIR.  The court said that Srinivas was entitled to interim protection.

Srinivas has approached the top court challenging the Gauhati High Court order rejecting his plea for anticipatory bail.

On May 5, the Gauhati High Court had rejected the plea for anticipatory bail by Srinivas in the case. The complainant woman is the ex-president of Assam Youth Congress.

The High Court had also refused to quash the FIR.

In her complaint, the woman has alleged that Srinivas persistently harassed her mentally by way of sexist remarks and slang words.

On her complaint, an FIR was registered booking Srinivas under Sections 352 (assault or criminal force), 354 (assault or criminal force to woman with intent to outrage her modesty) and 354A (1)(iv) (sexual harassment) of the Indian Penal Code.

The woman had claimed that Srinivas had heckled her, held her arm, pushed and pulled her and used slang words during the party’s recent plenary session in Raipur. He had also threatened to ruin her career in the party if she complained against him, she alleged.

Srinivas has said that the alleged offence had occurred in Raipur in Chhattisgarh which was beyond the territorial jurisdiction of the Dispur police station, where the case was filed and Assam police had no jurisdiction to investigate or register an FIR for an offence which allegedly took place in Chhattisgarh.

The Congress had issued show cause notice to the woman and later expelled her from the primary membership of the party for six years for anti-party activities.