Actress Assault Case: Kerala High Court dismisses plea by Dileep for CBI probe

The Kerala High Court on Monday refused to order a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe into the 2017 actress assault case in which cine actor Dileep stands is a prime accused [P Gopalakrishnan @ Dileep v. State of Kerala & Ors.]. .A Bench of Justices A Muhamed Mustaque and P Krishna Kumar passed the order after noting that the trial in the case, which is underway before the Ernakulam Principal District and Sessions Court, is in its final stage. .In February 2017, a prominent Malayalam cine actress was abducted and raped in a moving vehicle, allegedly at the behest of Dileep, who at the time was one of the most influential and powerful players in the Malayalam film industry. Dileep reportedly had a personal score to settle with the actress, allegedly because she told his ex-wife Manju Warrier that he was engaged in an extra-marital affair.This had led to the breakdown of his marriage with Warrier.Six persons were arrested and arrayed as accused in the case.In July 2017, Dileep was arrested and charged under various offences under the IPC, including Sections 366 (kidnapping), 120B (criminal conspiracy) , and 376D (gangrape).His first two attempts at getting bail were rejected by the Kerala High Court until October 2017 when the Court finally granted him bail.In 2018, he moved the High Court seeking to transfer the investigation in the case to the CBI, contending that the investigation carried out by the state police was biased against him. However, single-judge Justice Sunil Thomas dismissed his petition prompting him to file the present appeal in 2019.Nearly six years later, Dileep decided to press for CBI probe once again and the matter was listed before the Division Bench..The Bench today found no merit in his plea for a fresh CBI probe. However, it concurred with Dileep's counsel that some of the observations and findings made by the single-judge in his order were unwarranted. The Bench opined that the single judge's observations on how intense media scrutiny has affected the investigation was unnecessary and therefore, ruled that it now stands eschewed. The Bench also clarified that the single judge's observations on whether introduction of new witnesses and allegations of biased probes were grounds to order transfer of investigation, were made only for the purpose of deciding Dileep's petition..[Read Judgement]