In a set back to actor Dileep in the sexual assault case, which he is alleged to have masterminded, the Supreme Court has allowed trial to continue. The court has said the prosecution can go ahead with their examination of witnesses in the case. A bench of justices JK Maheshwari and PV Sanjay Kumar, on Friday, February 17, was hearing a petition filed by Dileep claiming that the ongoing trial at the Ernakulam Principal Sessions Court was being delayed deliberately by the investigating agency, the prosecuting agency and the prosecutrix in the case.
Opposing Dileep’s petition, the state of Kerala said that it needed thirty working days to complete examination of the remaining witnesses in the trial. “It appears that 41 witnesses are proposed for examination. During the hearing, it was told that only 32 witnesses have to be examined. We direct the trial court to take appropriate steps to examine the witnesses,” the bench said and adjourned the case to March 24. The bench also said that orders cannot be passed asking the trial court to conclude on a particular date.
The apex court has also asked the trial court to submit a report about the progress of the case.
On Thursday, two affidavits were filed back to back in the case concerning the re-examination of witnesses including Manju Warrier, actor and former wife of Dileep. While the first affidavit was filed by the Special Public Prosecutor (SPP) for the Kerala government requesting the Supreme Court to allow the reexamination of witnesses including Manju, the other one was filed by Dileep asking the Supreme Court to strike down the additional list of witnesses produced by the prosecution.
The case pertains to the abduction and sexual assault of a Kerala film actor. The incident took place in February 2017, and a man named ‘Pulsar’ Suni was arrested in the case. The prosecution’s case is that Suni was hired by top Malayalam actor Dileep, who wanted revenge against his female colleague for reportedly revealing to his then wife Manju Warrier that he was having an affair with actor Kavya Madhavan. The trial in the case started in 2019, and since then, there have been several developments in the court of judge Honey M Varghese, which resulted in controversies.