In 2022, the State Prosecution appealed to the Kerala High Court against the decision of the trial court, which declined to revoke Dileep’s bail in the 2017 actress assault case.
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Kochi: The Kerala High Court Today (28 Feb) declined to revoke the bail granted to Malayalam cine actor Dileep in connection with the 2017 actress assault case.
Justice Sophy Thomas delivered the verdict on a plea initiated by the State prosecution in 2022, contesting the decision of the Additional Special Session Judge, Ernakulam, who rejected the State’s request to cancel Dileep’s bail, previously granted by the High Court in 2017.
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However, the Court specified that the remarks made by the Sessions judge in her ruling denying the cancellation of bail would not impact the evaluation of evidence in the main trial.
“In view of the observations and findings made by the trial court in Crl.MP 891/2022 (prosecution plea to cancel bail), it may seem that the learned judge has formed an opinion regarding the alleged destruction of evidence, intimidation of witnesses, etc. raised by the prosecution. This Court is inclined to clarify Annexure E (trial court order refusing to cancel bail) as follows: It is clarified that the observations and findings of the trial court’s order are solely for the resolution of Crl.MP 891/2022 and will not influence the assessment of evidence in SC 118/2018 (main case). The learned trial judge is obligated to evaluate the evidence in SC 118/2018 independently and without being influenced by any observations or findings in Annexure E Order,”
-the High Court’s present order stated.
Dileep was apprehended on July 10, 2017, but secured bail on October 3, 2017, as granted by the High Court.
The prosecution brought the matter before the High Court, arguing that Dileep had violated the conditions of his bail and that he and his associates were involved in various activities, including tampering with evidence and influencing witnesses in the case. Dileep and his associates stand accused of masterminding and executing a retaliatory crime against a prominent actress, allegedly orchestrating her abduction and sexual assault in a moving vehicle.
According to the prosecution, the primary accused, Pulsar Suni, recorded visuals of the assault with the intent of disclosing the survivor’s identity from the footage. The prosecution asserts that this act was motivated by revenge, as Dileep believed the survivor played a role in the dissolution of his marriage to another well-known Malayalam actress, Manju Warrier.
Initially, the accused, including Dileep, were charged with various offenses under the Indian Penal Code (IPC), including Sections 366 (kidnapping), 120B (criminal conspiracy), and 376D (gangrape).
In a separate development, Dileep faced additional allegations from film director Balachandra Kumar, who claimed Dileep conspired to harm the police officers investigating the actress assault case. Despite this, Dileep obtained anticipatory bail from the High Court in 2021.
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The prosecution’s plea highlighted numerous instances where Dileep allegedly coerced certain prosecution witnesses, such as Vipin Lal, Jinson, and Sagar Vincent. However, when the prosecution initially sought to revoke Dileep’s bail, the trial court declined to consider the witnesses’ statements on this matter.
Additionally, the prosecution pointed out that Sagar Vincent, in particular, had separately approached the trial court, detailing alleged instances of coercion. The prosecution’s argument further asserted that the trial court failed to address the alleged destruction of the accused’s mobile phones.
CASE TITLE:
State of Kerala v P Gopalakrishnan Alias Dileep.
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