[Actor Sexual Assault Case] Sufficient Reasons Required To Recall Witnesses : Kerala High Court

Further developments ensued in the sensational actress sexual case that involves Malayalam actor Dileep, as the Kerala High Court on Friday observed that the prosecution should produce adequate justification for seeking to recall the witnesses in the case.

Justice Kauser Edappagath reserved orders in the Criminal Miscellaneous case filed by the State against the trial court approving to collect a confidential statement from director Balachandra Kumar, who made some explosive disclosures, on January 12th. 

The Single Judge also inquired into the correlation between the disclosure and the case and asked how it affected the case.

"Witnesses should not be cross-examined again just to overcome the flaws on the part of the prosecution. The rights of the accused should also be protected."

On Thursday, the State government constituted a new team to investigate the case. Reportedly, Additional Director General of Police Sreejith will now head the team and Inspector General of Crime Branch KP Philip will also be part of it. Deputy Superintendent of Police Baiju Paulose will continue as the investigation officer.

The new team has been constituted after senior police official B Sandhya, who was heading the case before, took over as the head of the Kerala Fire Force. The new team has been entrusted with collecting evidence for the statements of film director Balachandra Kumar. 

A few days ago, Balachandra Kumar had released audio recordings of people including actor Dileep trying to sabotage the case and obstruct the trial. He had raised several allegations pertaining to the case, one of the prominent ones being that Dileep had seen the visuals of the assault before it was produced before the court, despite being an accused in the case. The director added that he detected a close association between Dileep and the main accused in the case, Pulsar Suni.

Earlier this week, the survivor had also penned a letter to Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan after Balachandrakumar's revelations came out. Stating that his allegations should be looked into, she also pointed out that the Special Public Prosecutor in the case, VN Anilkumar quit, protesting the attitude of the High Court judge Honey Varghese. Therefore, she asked the Chief Minister to appoint an SPP at the earliest.

Prominent Malayalam film actor Dileep was accused of hatching the criminal conspiracy behind the abduction and the sexual assault of the victim, also an actor, in a moving vehicle in the outskirts of Cochin city in February 2017.

In November 2019, the Supreme Court had rejected Dileep's plea for a copy of the memory card allegedly containing the visuals of the sexual crime, ordering that the trial in the case should be completed expeditiously, "preferably within six months".

The Kerala Police had arrested Dileep in July 2017 alleging that he was the mastermind of the crime. After 88 days of custody, the High Court granted him bail.

The trial in the case was finally nearing completion after five long years. But on 5th January, the State government moved the Supreme Court seeking an extension of the trial by six months after Balachandrakumar raised the aforementioned allegations against Dileep.

Case Title: State of Kerala v. Sunil N.S @ Pulsar Suni