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Kerala HC judge Edapaggath recuses from actor’s assault trial
Edapaggath was Ernakulam principal sessions court judge when the pen drive containing the visuals of the assault were submitted before the court in Kerala actor assault case
A day after the survivor in the actor abduction and assault case approached the Kerala high court alleging a bid to sabotage the ongoing investigation, justice Kausar Edapaggath on Tuesday recused himself from hearing her petition.
The development came after the counsel for the actor requested the high court registrar to change the case to another bench. Edapaggath was Ernakulam principal sessions court judge when the pen drive containing the visuals of the assault were submitted before the court. Later, the judge informed the chief justice and registrar about his withdrawal from the case.
“The Kerala government which gave full support to me initially backtracked from its constitutional and legal commitment of conducting a free and fair investigation in the case. The prosecution and investigation agency are now threatened by political higher-ups to end the investigation half way and file an additional final report,” she said in her petition which is likely to be taken up by another judge on Wednesday.
The actor also raised an allegation that the “trial court judge was unfair in her approach” and sought the court’s intervention to secure justice to her. She also claimed video clips of the assault were leaked out from the trial court and no action was taken against offenders. She said she suspected sabotage after crime branch ADGP S Sreejith who was supervising the probe was shifted abruptly and investigating team failed to question defence lawyers who allegedly tried to influence some of the witnesses in the case.
Meanwhile, the survivor’s latest petition triggered a political storm even as the state is in the midst of a fiercely-contested by-election in Thrikkakara (Kochi) on May 31. LDF convener E P Jayarajan and CPI(M) state secretary Kodiyeri Balakrishnan said her plea was ill-timed and the Congress-led UDF was behind it. Party leader M M Mani went a step further saying “the whole case was shameful and nasty and the government has no role in it.” But opposition leader V D Satheesan reiterated that the government was not women friendly and was using all the means to weaken the case.
The actor abduction case (2017) trial was about to end in last December, a new case surfaced following the disclosure of Malayalam director Balachandra Kumar. He told police that he met the actor assault case prime accused Pulsar Suni at Dileep’s residence in 2016 when he had gone there to discuss a new project. He also alleged that he was privy to a conversation, at Dileep’s house, where he heard about a conspiracy to eliminate officials investigating the case. After new disclosures, the prosecution moved the trial court for a fresh investigation and the court asked it to file a new case against Dileep and four others. Now Dileep is an accused in both cases, the actor assault and conspiracy against police officials.
