Kochi (Kerala): The Kerala High Court on Friday dismissed the pleas filed by an actress and refused to transfer the trial proceedings to a different court in a 2017 sexual assault case.
Justice VG Arun was hearing the pleas filed by the actress seeking transfer of the trial in the case, in which popular Malayalam actor Dileep is among the accused, to another court.
Dismissing the pleas, the court said unless the court and the prosecutor work in sync it results in the guilty escaping the clutches of law and innocent being punished.
Justice V G Arun said he was confident that in the endeavour to seek truth and render justice, the special prosecutor and defence lawyer shall work in tandem.
The actress, who has worked in Tamil and Telugu films, was abducted and allegedly molested inside her car for two hours by the accused, who had forced their way into the vehicle on the night of February 17, 2017 and later escaped in a busy area.
The entire act was filmed by the accused to blackmail the actress. There are ten accused in the case and initially, police arrested seven people. Dileep was arrested subsequently and let out on bail later.
Read:Kerala: Trial court hears prosecution plea to cancel actor Dileep's bail
In April this year, the high court had allowed a petition by the actress seeking appointment of a woman judge for conducting the trial and ordered CBI special court Judge-III Ernakulam to complete the in-cameral trial expeditiously.
In her latest plea, the actress alleged she was aggrieved by the biased and hostile attitude of the trial court and that it sat like a mute spectator when she was being examined and harassed by the counsel for Dileep.
She complained that the trial court failed to restrict the number of lawyers for the accused present inside the court hall when she was being examined and failed to uphold the spirit of in-camera trial. The state government, in its October 27 memorandum seeking transfer of the trial, submitted it was aggrieved by the "biased, hostile and partisan" conduct of the trial court.
Read:Kerala court junks actor Dileep's discharge petition
