synopsis

The High Court rejected Dileep's argument and noted that only Dileep had complained about opening an investigation into the alleged tampering of evidence.

The Kerala High Court on Monday dismissed the petition moved by actor Dileep, accused in the 2017 actress assault case seeking to adjourn the hearing into the complaint of the survivor over unauthorised access to the memory card. In her complaint, the actress urged the High Court to take action regarding the suspected unlawful access to the memory card, which is a key piece of evidence. Dileep said in his plea that the complainant had filed a new petition to delay the trial and decision in the matter.

Justice K. Babu appointed Attorney Renjith B. Marar as an Amicus Curiae in the case while reserving the matter for the announcement of the verdict.

The High Court rejected Dileep's argument and noted that only Dileep had complained about opening an investigation into the alleged tampering of evidence. The government's counsel also upheld the survivor's claim. The HC's decision on the survivor's complaint will be made soon.

When the court was considering the survivor's appeal for intervention in the alleged unauthorised access to the memory card, Dileep's counsel questioned the survivor's motivations behind the new complaint. 

The survivor's attorney refuted Dileep's claims during the contentious arguments on Monday and brought up how the Supreme Court had prolonged the trial's deadline. The Ernakulam trial court was given a deadline of March 31, 2024, by the Supreme Court.

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. 

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.