Actress attack case: SC grants additional 8 months to finish trial procedures

Malayalam actor Dileep is accused of being the crime's mastermind and is currently being tried for criminal conspiracy. On the basis of new claims made by movie director Balachandra Kumar in December 2021, the trial court has permitted further inquiry into the case.

New Delhi: The Supreme Court granted additional eight months to complete trial procedures and verdict in the actress attack case on Friday (Aug 4). The time for concluding the trial court proceedings was extended by the SC bench of justices Aniruddha Bose and Bela M Trivedi to March 31, 2024. Trial court judge Honey M. Varghese's request was granted by the SC. The earlier due date was July 31. However, it has been extended as the prosecution has to question six additional witnesses in relation to the case.

The prosecution, according to Dileep's lawyer Mukul Rohtagi, has allegedly been prolonging the trial process needlessly. 

In addition, Mukul Rohtagi asked the top court to revisit the trial's status three months later. The bench, however, rejected his plea and stated that it was impossible to truly choose a deadline for wrapping up the trial proceedings.

The case pertains to the abduction and sexual assault of a prominent Malayalam actress in a moving car by a gang in Kochi on February 17, 2017. The attackers recorded the assault on camera. For his suspected connections to the group, actor Dileep was detained and sentenced to almost six months in prison.