Taking a tough stand, the Kerala High Court on Tuesday, February 22, asked the prosecution why there is a delay in filing the final report in the further investigation against actor Dileep. "What's so special about this case? It's been two months now and no more time can be given... The final report should be filed on March 1. Does it take this long to probe into the statement of one person," it asked.
The investigation began in the last week of December 2021 after certain revelations were made by Balachandrakumar, a director and former friend of Dileep. Balachandrakumar had released a series of audio clips in which Dileep and others allegedly conspired to murder a few of the officials investigating the actor assault case. Balachandrakumar also made some revelations through the media that there is evidence, including digital ones, to prove that Dileep had influenced the witnesses.
It was on February 7, after quite a few hearings, the actor and his 5 close aides including his brother, and brother-in-law, got anticipatory bail in the fresh case, where the final report is yet to be filed. The prosecution said that they are in the final stages of the investigation and a few more pieces of digital evidence have to be checked.
Meanwhile, the police on Tuesday, February 22, told the Kerala High Court there was no legal bar or impediment in further investigations into the actor assault case merely because the trial was at its fag end and that no prior permission was required for it. The submissions before the court were made by the Director General of Prosecution (DGP) TA Shaji and Additional Public Prosecutor P Narayanan, representing the police, during the hearing of actor Dileep's plea opposing further probe.
The prosecution said further probe can be carried out anytime before verdict if any fresh material or evidence comes to light. The DGP contended there was no pre-planning between the investigating officer and director Balachandra Kumar and there was no connection between them till the time the latter made his revelations.
The prosecution commenced its arguments after submissions on behalf of the actor and the survivor in the assault case. The survivor, too, supported the prosecution's decision to carry out further probe saying she wants a fair trial and the truth behind the incident needs to be revealed.
During the hearing, the court asked the prosecution whether it can complete the probe by March 1 as the deadline for completion of the trial has been extended several times by the Supreme Court. In response, the prosecution said it needs more time as several people have been questioned and data has been recovered from the phones submitted by the actor.
Also, the DGP claimed files had been deleted by the actor from the phones submitted in court. He said he would inform the court on Thursday as to when the probe can be completed. Dileep's lawyers would respond to the submissions by the prosecution on Thursday.
In the plea, the actor contended that further investigations were not permissible as a final report was filed in November 2017, charges were framed in January 2020 and only one prosecution witness -- one of the investigating officers -- remained to be examined.
The survivor, who has worked in Tamil, Telugu and Malayalam films, was abducted and allegedly molested in her car for two hours by some people who had forced their way into the vehicle on the night of February 17, 2017, and later escaped. The entire act was filmed by those people to blackmail the actress.
There are 10 accused in the case and seven of them were arrested. Dileep was arrested subsequently and released on bail.
With PTI inputs