E-Paper
Kerala HC rejects Dileep’s plea to quash case on threat to probe officers
The single bench of Justice Kausar Edapppgath permitted the crime branch team to continue its investigation but directed it to complete the probe by April 15.
The Kerala high court on Tuesday turned down Malayalam actor Dileep’s plea to quash the fresh case registered against him after the disclosure of director Balachandra Kumar in connection with the 2017 sexual assault case of an actor.
The single bench of Justice Kausar Edapppgath permitted the crime branch team to continue its investigation but directed it to complete the probe by April 15.
Earlier, the crime branch had sought three months’ time to complete the fresh investigation. If the case was not quashed, as an alternative Dileep has sought a probe by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). But the court found no need to interfere with the ongoing probe now. The court also observed that it arrived at the conclusion without verifying veracity of evidence collected by the crime branch.
In the month-long hearing, Dileep contended that a new case was foisted on him to delay the trial in actor assault case. The investigating officer in the case allegedly conspired with the director to cook up a fresh case against him, he said. But director general of prosecutions T A Shaji argued that the investigating agency was duty-bound to follow up a fresh lead whenever they received it and there was no logic behind opposing it. Senior counsel S Sreekumar representing the survivor also argued that further investigation was necessary to arrive at truth. Later the court permitted the crime branch to continue its investigation. Last month Dileep was granted anticipatory bail in the new case.
The new case relates to an alleged conspiracy to attack investigating officers who probed the actor assault case. The case took a new turn in January after director Kumar claimed that Dileep was in possession of the woman actor’s assault video and he was privy to a conversation allegedly took place in November 2017 at the actor’s flat in Kochi to attack investigating officers the case. Later a new case of registered against him and four others including his brother and brother-in- law.
But Dileep said the fresh case was foisted on him after the prosecution found that its contentions in the actor assault case were weak. It came up at a time when the trial in the actor abduction and assault case was about to conclude. A leading south Indian woman actor was abducted and assaulted in a moving vehicle in Kochi in 2017 and Dileep is an accused in the first case also.
Two days back the survivor gave an interview to Mojo TV (The Global Townhall) anchored by senior journalist Barkha Dutt. She said fighting for justice was never that easy but vowed she will take the case to its logical end. She said that she “felt all alone in life but later got enough support and will take the case it its logical end... to prove her innocence and dignity.”
She said her five-year journey after the incident was really tough. “Once I got a mail asking me to die. Hate mails were abound and I felt broken but my quest for justice and truth kept me motivated,” she said during the interview. The actor said that she was grateful to those who stood with her.
