Actress assault case from 2017: Kerala High Court refuses to revoke Dileep’s release

In the 2017 actress assault case, the Kerala High Court on Wednesday rejected to revoke actor Dileep’s bail, stating that doing so at this time “may frustrate the trial,” which is about to conclude.

The prosecution had requested that Justice Sophy Thomas revoke the actor’s bail on a number of reasons, including that he had allegedly tampered with witnesses, destroyed evidence in the case, and plotted to remove the investigating officers.

The High Court expressed its belief that canceling Dileep’s bail at this time might result in more legal disputes and complexities, perhaps delaying the trial till an indeterminate period of time.

It went on to say that the incident occurred in 2017 and that “it is nearing completion after a long drawn trial.”

“So this court is of the view that let the trial be completed and the case be disposed of at the earliest.”

“The crimes, if any, registered for destroying evidence, influencing or threatening witnesses, or for the conspiracy to do away with the investigating officers, etc., may take its course till it is logically concluded in accordance with law,” Justice Thomas stated, dismissing the prosecution’s plea.

In addition, the prosecution had requested that the lower court’s remarks be set aside, but it had declined to revoke the actor’s bail.

The prosecution had voiced concerns that the lower court’s views would negatively affect the trial court’s evaluation of the evidence. The prosecution was represented by Director General of Prosecution (DGP) T A Shaji and additional public prosecutor P Narayanan.

The DGP had pleaded with the High Court to make it clear that the lower court’s views could not have a negative impact on the evaluation of the evidence in the case and were solely intended to resolve the actor’s bail cancellation request.

The judge “may have made up her mind as to the destruction of evidence and influencing the witnesses, etc.” according to the High Court’s observation of the lower court.

Therefore, the High Court made it clear that “it shall not affect the appreciation of evidence” in the main case and that the lower court’s findings and remarks were only intended to resolve the prosecution’s motion to terminate Dileep’s bail.

“The trial judge has to appreciate the available facts and evidence in the case independently and untrammeled by any of the observations and findings in the lower court order,” Justice Thomas said in her ruling.

Observing that it cannot assume that Dileep erased evidence in connection with the case for the only reason that the forensic lab’s report contained the information that certain chats were deleted, the lower court declined to terminate Dileep’s bail.

Additionally, it noted that the mere fact that the cell phone was examined at a private laboratory does not support the theory that the actor was responsible for the evidence’s disappearance.

The actress-victim, who has appeared in films in Tamil, Telugu, and Malayalam, was reportedly kidnapped and molested in her car for two hours on the evening of February 17, 2017, by a group of individuals who had broken into the car before making their escape via a crowded location.

Those people recorded the whole incident with the intention of blackmailing the actress.

Actor Dileep is among the ten defendants in the 2017 case; seven have been taken into custody by the police.

After that, Dileep was taken into custody and later freed on bond.