In a setback for Malayalam actor Dileep, the Kerala High Court on Tuesday dismissed his plea seeking to quash murder conspiracy charges against him. The FIR against the actor was filed by the Kerala Police in connection with a 2017 sexual assault case. The Crime Branch can go ahead with its probe, a single bench of Justice Syaduyr Rehman ruled as it dismissed the actor's plea. The bench also rejected Dileep's plea to hand over the probe in the case to CBI.
The detailed order containing reasons for the decision is awaited.
In his plea Dileep had claimed the absence of any material in the murder conspiracy FIR to indicate commission of any of the offences attributed to him or the other accused, and also claimed the entire case was based on something allegedly 'wished' by him.
The Crime Branch contended the FIR lists alleged offences that warrant investigation. It contended the alleged utterances - threats to harm officials indicated - what was in the accused's minds and was a 'manifestation' of their agreement or conspiracy.
The Crime Branch had registered a case against Dileep and five others on January 9. The case pertains to Dileep allegedly conspiring to murder officials investigating the alleged sexual assault of an actor in February 2017. The conspiracy to murder case was registered after audio clips surfaced in which Dileep and others allegedly threatened the investigating officials.
Malayalam film director Balachandra Kumar has also levelled a series of allegations against Dileep in connection with the case. He had shared the audio recordings that led to the new charges against Dileep, who was also charged with criminal intimidation, among others.
{{/usCountry}}Malayalam film director Balachandra Kumar has also levelled a series of allegations against Dileep in connection with the case. He had shared the audio recordings that led to the new charges against Dileep, who was also charged with criminal intimidation, among others.
{{/usCountry}}The 2017 assault survivor - an actor who worked in Tamil and Telugu films - was allegedly abducted and molested inside her car by a group of men who forced their way into the vehicle on the night of February 17, 2017.