Supreme Court adjourns actor Dileep's plea in assault case adjourned to 11 Jan; Kerala govt opposes appeal by 'main conspirator'

The Supreme Court on Monday deferred the hearing for Malayalam actor Dileep’s plea in the case of abduction and attack on an actress in 2017, seeking access to a memory card that contains the images of the alleged assault, till 11 January. [caption id=“attachment_4035931” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] File image of actor Dileep. PTI[/caption] Meanwhile, the Kerala government opposed Dileep’s plea citing that the actor is the chief conspirator. Earlier, the Kerala High Court judgment had rejected his plea for a copy of the memory card containing the visuals of the alleged incident. The court had upheld the police contention that evidence cannot be handed over to the accused. Former Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi appeared for Dileep in the apex court and submitted that the actor had a right to obtain materials produced by the prosecution. However, the bench questioned Rohatgi’s argument and asked, “Even if the memory card is regarded as a document, how can it be handed over having regard to the sensitive nature of visuals contained it,” Live Law reported. Rohatgi then told the court that the visuals were tampered and to examine the same the memory card should be handed over to the accused’s counsel. He said that the actor was framed in the case due to the enmity of the victim-actress. He was not named in the original charge sheet and was framed afterthought. “I can establish that the prosecution case is fabricated if get the visuals of the memory card”, Rohatgi said. In his petition to the top court, the actor had claimed that he has the right to access the images, which are crucial evidence in the case. Dileep had alleged that these images had been doctored “to trap” him, The Week reported. Dileep, who was arrested on July 10, 2017, was granted bail on October 3, after 85 days in custody. The actor had in June moved the Kerala High Court, seeking a CBI investigation into the case. In his petition, he had alleged that the Special Investigation Team (SIT) of Kerala Police had carried out an “unfair and biased investigation” into the case.