New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Friday directed a Kerala trial court to speedily record testimonies and submit a progress report of the trial of Malayalam actor and accused Dileep in a sexual assault case of an actress. The bench of Justices JK Maheshwari and PV Sanjay Kumar was hearing the application filed by Dileep against prolonging the trial to evade verdict.
The state of Kerala informed the court during the hearing on Friday that it requires 30 working days to examine witnesses. "This is not the way... how many times extension has been granted," the bench said in response, pulling up the prosecution and noting it has already sought extension thrice before. Senior advocate Mukul Rohtagi, appearing for Dileep, submitted before the court that 237 witnesses had already been examined, arguing that the additional witnesses the prosecution chose to question were 'irrelevant' to the case.
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Every time the deadline comes close, the state files an application for additional witnesses and delays the proceedings, Rohtagi also observed. The actor, back on September 2022, said in an application that the trial at the Principal Sessions Court, Ernakulam, was “protracted at the instance of the prosecutrix so as to evade a final verdict”.
Representing the victim, Senior Advocate R Basant argued that it was not up to the accused to decide the relevance of witnesses, and was entirely upon the prosecution. Responding to the state of Kerala's wish for the matter to be listed next in April, the SC said it wanted to supervise what the trial court was doing.
It also recorded in its order that the parties involved will cooperate in the testimonial process. In 2022, SC extended the trial to conclude on February 16, and further extended it to conclude on January 31 this year. Dileep, a noted name in the Malayalam film industry, as well as his associates, has been accused of conspiring to sexually assault, abducting and photographing an actress in 2017. Arrested the same year, the actor was charged under sections 366, 120B and 376D of the Indian Penal Code. He was released on bail later on.
