Actor Bhavana, the survivor of the 2017 Kerala sexual assault case, wrote to the Bar Council of Kerala a complaint alleging illegal interventions made by advocate Raman Pillai, who is representing actor Dileep, the eigth-accused in the case. In a detailed note, the actor has alleged that the advocate and his team have tried to influence several of the crucial witnesses in the case. However, in response, the Bar Council stated that the complaint is not in order and attached a copy of the rules relating to the procedure in filing a complaint against an advocate. Her complaint will be considered after she rectifies the defects, a letter from the Secretary of Bar Council said.
In her complaint, Bhavana states that the advocates of the accused actor have been undertaking actions which were illegal and not suited to the legal profession. She urges the Bar Council to take action against them. A few months ago, new allegations had cropped up in the case after certain revelations by Balachandra Kumar, a director who was formerly close to Dileep. Further investigations in the case have since then been undertaken by the police.
Bhavana’s fresh complaint begins with the alleged incident of advocate Raman Pillai trying to influence Jinson, a witness who shared a cell with the main accused of the assault case, Pulsar Suni. Raman Pillai used the help of an accused in a criminal case called Nasser to offer Rs 25 lakh and five cents of land to Jinson to influence him, she alleges. A case has been registered in connection with it, she points out. She also states that Raman Pillai had not attended the summons of the police for questioning in the case.
She then brings up the recent controversy over the alleged tampering of evidence in the mobile phones of the accused which were recently handed over to the Aluva magistrate after a lot of resistance from the accused. The accused had moved the court to fight the handing over of the phones in another case of criminal conspiracy by the accused against police officials who investigated the sexual assault crime.
Further, Bhavana writes that another crucial witness, Sagar Wincent, was given Rs 5 lakh by Adv Philip T Varghese, a member of Raman Pillai's team. It allegedly came out in an audio clip submitted to the police by Balachandrakumar.
She also alleges that Dasan, Dileep's watchman, and Sajith, Pulsar Suni's friend, were also met by Dileep's advocates. The proof for all the allegations can be found in the documents submitted by the prosecution in various courts, she writes. She ends the letter with a request to the Bar Council to investigate the matter and take appropriate action against the advocates.