E-Paper
HC junks actor Dileep’s petition for CBI probe in 2017 kidnapping and sexual assault case
The bench found no merit in the plea filed by the actor as the trial in the case was already headed towards a conclusion in the Ernakulam principal and sessions court
The Kerala high court on Monday refused to allow actor Dileep’s petition for a probe by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) into the 2017 kidnapping and sexual assault case of a prominent female actor.
The bench of justices A Muhamed Mustaque and P Krishna Kumar found no merit in the plea filed by the actor as the trial in the case was already headed towards a conclusion in the Ernakulam principal and sessions court.
The plea by Dileep, the eighth accused in the case who faces charges of criminal conspiracy, among others, for a central agency probe was earlier dismissed by a single judge of the high court in 2018.
“We finally concur with the learned single judge in regard to the relief declining for further instructions to the CBI as it is now that we also find that trial is heading to final conclusion,” the high court said in its order passed on Monday.
However, the bench concurred with the counsel of the actor on Monday that some of the observations and conclusion drawn by the single judge were unwarranted.
On February 17, 2017, a prominent female actor was allegedly abducted and sexually assaulted in a moving car between Thrissur and Kochi. Pulsar Suni, a known repeat offender, was the first to be arrested in the case.
Suni reportedly confessed before the police that the assault was ordered by Dileep, as the actress had allegedly played a role in the breakdown of his marriage.
The actor was arrested in July 2017 and spent 83 days in jail before securing bail. Dileep has dismissed the allegations against him as “baseless”.
The sexual assault case kicked up a major storm in the Malayalam film industry forcing the state government to appoint a committee headed by a retired high court judge to look at issues faced by women in the Malayalam film industry.
The Hema committee report, finally released to the public in August this year, confirmed that sexual harassment was rampant in the industry.
Since then, a slew of similar complaints has led to firest information reports being filed against prominent actors, directors and industry figures. The police investigations on those FIRs are underway and monitored regularly by the high court.
