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In the span of a few days, two judges of the Kerala High Court have recused themselves from hearing a plea in connection with the alleged illegal access of a memory card in the 2017 actor assault case.
On Wednesday, June 10, Justice Kauser Edappagath recused from hearing the plea filed by the survivor, demanding a fresh investigation into the alleged access of the memory card, which contains visuals of the assault. The survivor had approached the Court to reopen the probe, alleging that the earlier investigation report into the memory card was not satisfactory and did not address all aspects.
The plea was listed before Justice Kauser after another judge, Justice Jobin Sebastian, recused himself from hearing the case.
According to Live Law, Justice Jobin had stepped aside from hearing the plea as he had held charge as Registrar General when a similar complaint was made by the survivor in the past. However, Justice Kauser has not cited any reason. He orally mentioned that he would like to avoid it when the matter came up on Wednesday.
This is the third time that Justice Kauser has recused himself from hearing a plea in the actor assault case.
Earlier, in May 2022, the survivor approached the High Court alleging political interference in the hearing of the sexual assault case. She alleged bias and misconduct by trial judge Honey M Varghese and said that the judge was unwilling to reveal a forensic report she had had with her since 2020.
Justice Kauser was the Ernakulam Principal and Sessions judge when the pen drive containing the visuals of the sexual assault was kept in the custody of the court. So the survivor had requested that the matter be heard by a judge other than Justice Kauser.
Following this, he recused himself from hearing the plea.
A month later, in June 2022, Justice Kauser recused from hearing a petition filed by the Crime Branch in the High Court, challenging the lower court order halting the probe into the alleged access of evidence from the court during the trial.
The case relates to the abduction and sexual assault of a Malayalam film actress on February 17, 2017, while she was travelling from Thrissur to Kochi.
A group of men intercepted her vehicle, sexually assaulted her and recorded the incident on video. Actor Dileep was later arrested and named as an accused, with the prosecution alleging a conspiracy behind the crime.
The memory card containing the visuals of the sexual assault had been illegally accessed while in the court’s custody during the trial, triggering controversy and casting doubts on the credibility of the trial.
In 2025, the Ernakulam Special Court convicted those involved in the direct assault but acquitted Dileep and some others, stating that the prosecution failed to establish the conspiracy beyond a reasonable doubt.