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The Kerala High Court on Monday, June 22, admitted the state government’s appeal challenging the acquittal of actor Dileep and seeking enhanced punishment for those convicted in the 2017 actor assault case.
A Division Bench comprising Justices Raja Vijayaraghavan V and KV Jayakumar admitted the appeal against the acquittal of Malayalam actor Dileep, also known as Gopalakrishnan Padmanabhan, who was arraigned as the eighth accused and alleged to have masterminded the crime.
The state has also challenged the acquittal of Charly Thomas (Accused No 7), Sanilkumar alias Mesthiri Sanil (Accused No 9), and Sharath G Nair (Accused No 15), who were accused of being part of a criminal conspiracy linked to the offence.
According to LiveLaw, the Bench is also hearing appeals filed earlier by the convicted accused challenging their convictions and sentences.
The court noted that Advocate V Ajakumar has been appointed Special Public Prosecutor to represent the state in the case.
The High Court directed that the trial court records be summoned and posted the matter after two weeks for hearing petitions seeking suspension of sentence filed by the convicted accused, including the prime accused, Sunil NS alias Pulsar Suni.
In December 2025, the Principal District and Sessions Court, Ernakulam, convicted six accused — Sunil NS alias Pulsar Suni, Martin Antony, B Manikandan, VP Vijeesh, H Saleem, and C Pradeep — of rape, criminal conspiracy, abduction, and other offences, and sentenced them accordingly.
However, the Sessions Court acquitted Dileep, holding that the prosecution had failed to establish the alleged conspiracy involving the actor.
The state subsequently approached the High Court in February 2026, challenging Dileep’s acquittal and seeking stricter punishment for those convicted in the case.
Meanwhile, on June 12, the survivor moved the High Court seeking a court-monitored Special Investigation Team probe into the alleged unauthorised access to and tampering of the memory card containing visuals related to the assault. That petition remains pending before the court.
The article was written by a student interning with TNM.
