In what appears to be a deliberate move to delay the trial, actor Dileep has moved the Kerala High Court in the Malayalam actor abduction case. With just days left for the trial in the abduction and alleged sexual assault of a prominent Malayalam woman actor in February 2017, Dileep has approached the High Court seeking delay in the trial.
In a revision petition filed at the Kerala High Court on Friday, Dileep has said that the trial in the case should not begin on March 14, as scheduled. The actor has argued that he hasn't received all the documents yet in the case.
Advocate Raman Pillai, who represents Dileep, confirmed to TNM that a revision petition (on the earlier HC petition seeking access to assault visuals) has been filed. Saying that he expects a favourable order from the HC on Monday with regard to Dileep's plea to access the assault visuals, advocate Raman Pillai said:
"If our petition is granted by the HC, then automatically the date of commencement of trial will be pushed for later. The court is most definitely unlikely to ask the police to hand over the visuals on the same day, so that the trial can begin on the prescribed date."
The revision petition was filed, even as the Kerala HC is set to consider Dileep's earlier petition, seeking access to the visuals of the assault. This after the Angamany magistrate court in February, refused to entertain his plea and said that the assault visuals cannot be handed over to Dileep. Dileep had moved the court in January, seeking several documents and evidence to be handed over to him, including the assault visuals. He was only granted access to CCTV visuals of the survivor's car being driven from Thrissur to Kochi, which is when the crime happened.
Dileep, a popular actor and an influential person in the film industry, is the eighth accused in the case, and is alleged to be the mastermind behind the crime. According to the chargesheet filed by the police, Dileep held a grudge against the survivor, and hired others including prime accused Sunil Kumar, also known as Pulsar Suni, to assault the actor and film the act.
According to the lawyer, Dileep is set to appear at the Ernakulam Principal Sessions Court on March 14 (Wednesday), following a summons from the court directing him to appear.