O R D E R

This Bail Application is filed under Section 482 of Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita .

2. Petitioners are the accused in Crime No.41 of 2025 of Cantonment Police Station, Thiruvananthapuram. The above case is registered against the petitioners alleging offences punishable under Sections 11(i) and 12 of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act (for short ‘POCSO Act’) and Section 3(5) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023 (for short ‘BNS’).

3. The 1^st petitioner is the consulting editor and the 2^nd petitioner is the sub editor-digital of a malayalam news channel known by the name as ‘Reporter’.

4. The prosecution case is that on 06.01.2025 during the television coverage of Kerala State School Youth Festival, which was held in Thiruvananthapuram, the Reporter Channel aired a teleskit portraying the participants of the Oppana competition, wherein the 2^nd petitioner acted as a spectator, who was having a conversation with one of the teammates, who was dressed up as the ‘Manavatti’ of the Oppana Team. It is also stated that the s