Dileep's Request Denied: Supreme Court Extends Trial Time In Actress Assault Case

Supreme Court Extends Trial Period In Actress Assault Case: The Supreme Court has granted an extension of eight months to conclude the trial and deliver the verdict in the actress assault case.

Responding to the request from trial court judge Honey M. Varghese, the Supreme Court has allowed the trial proceedings to continue until March 31, 2024. The decision was made by a bench of Supreme Court justices, including Aniruddha Bose and Bela Madhurya Trivedi.

The time frame initially set by the Supreme Court for completing the trial lapsed on July 31. However, the trial court judge reported that the prosecution has yet to examine six additional witnesses.

Dileep's Plea For Fixed Timeline Denied By Supreme Court

In the courtroom, senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi, representing the defendant Dileep, argued that the prosecution's actions seemed geared towards prolonging the trial indefinitely. Rohatgi urged the Supreme Court to evaluate the trial's progress after three months. This request came during a hearing where Dileep was seeking a specific time limit for the trial proceedings.

Nonetheless, the Supreme Court dismissed this plea, with Justice Aniruddha Bose, the bench head, clarifying that imposing a fixed timeline on the trial isn't feasible.

The state government's representative, Standing Consul Nishe Rajan Shonker, emphasised that it was the trial court judge's plea for more time, not the prosecution, that prompted the extension.

Earlier, Dileep had approached the Kerala High Court, alleging that deliberate efforts were being made to prolong the trial in the 2017 actress assault case, in which he is a defendant. Dileep conveyed his distress to the High Court, stressing that the protracted trial had adversely impacted his life.

Amidst the ongoing legal proceedings, concerns were raised about the handling of crucial evidence in the case-a memory card containing recordings of the assault. Dileep argued that these concerns were an attempt to extend the trial, adding to his ordeal.

The 2017 incident involved the sexual assault of the actress in a moving car, with the act recorded on a phone. The memory card with the recording emerged as vital evidence, but a State Forensic Laboratory report indicated that it had been accessed multiple times while in court custody.

In response to these concerns, the High Court sought clarification about the impact of these access instances on the memory card's integrity. The Director General of Prosecutions, T. A. Shaji, highlighted the importance of preserving the footage's authenticity.

As the case proceeds, the testimonies of six individuals, including a magistrate and two investigators, remain pending. While the trial of key witness Balachandra Kumar has concluded, the examination took place online during his kidney-related treatment.