Kerala High Court To Hold Special Physical Hearing Tomorrow For Dileep's Pre-Arrest Bail Plea

The Kerala High Court on Friday decided to hear Malayalam actor Dileep's anticipatory bail plea on Saturday in physical court.

The developments ensued in the anticipatory bail plea filed by the actor in the case registered by the Kerala Police where he has been booked for allegedly conspiring to kill police officers investigating the sensational 2017 sexual assault case. Concurrently, Dileep is facing trial as the alleged mastermind of the abduction and the sexual assault of a female actress in a moving car in 2017.

Justice Gopinath P. clarified that the special sitting was not scheduled since the matter was more important than others, but because a lot of material had to be gone through before the hearing:

"Not that this case is more important than others, but I hear there is a counter-affidavit and a lot of material to go through. We can have a patient hearing tomorrow and decide the matter accordingly."

Both the counsels agreed that a physical hearing of the matter would be better. Accordingly, the matter has been posted to be heard tomorrow in physical court. 

In its statement filed yesterday, the Superintendent of Police, Crime Branch had vehemently opposed the grant of bail citing that this was perhaps the first time in the history of the State that a rape quotation was given to a criminal gang and where a person accused of a serious offence hatched a criminal conspiracy to murder the investigation officers.

When the matter was taken up last, the prosecution had given an undertaking that the actor will not be arrested till the next hearing, i.e., today. 

In an earlier hearing of the case, Dileep had claimed the entire case to be a 'mockery'.

Earlier this month, director Balachandra Kumar had released audio recordings of people including Dileep trying to sabotage the case and obstruct the trial. In his statement, he added that Dileep and his men tried to endanger the lives of the officials.

Earlier this month, director Balachandra Kumar had released audio recordings of people including Dileep trying to sabotage the case and obstruct the trial. In his statement, he added that Dileep and his men tried to endanger the lives of the officials.

Following his statements, the trial court had collected a confidential statement from the director.

Consequently, Dileep and five men were booked under Sections 116 (abetment), 118 (concealing design to commit offence), 506 (criminal intimidation) and 120B (criminal conspiracy) r/w Section 34 (common intention) of IPC. The new case was filed under non-bailable sections.

Apprehending arrest, Dileep, his brother P. Sivakumar and his brother-in-law T.N.Suraj have approached the Court praying for anticipatory bail.

The application was filed through Advocates Philip T. Varghese, Thomas T. Varghese, Achu Shubha Abraham, Litha V.T, Monisha K.R and Nitya R.

The applicants had claimed that they are innocent and have been falsely implicated in the said offences. They have asserted that the registration of the said FIR directly by the Crime Branch is 'nothing but a vindictive and retaliatory act' of Crime Branch DySp Baiju Paulose.

This is in light of the fact that Dileep had recently initiated contempt of court proceedings against Paulose for allegedly causing obstruction to the administration of justice. The Additional Special Judge has issued notice in this petition on 4th January.

Dileep had further claimed in his application that his 80-year old mother is very sick and suffers from old age ailments including Alzheimer's. He added that his elder daughter is an MBBS student and his younger daughter is aged 3.

Simultaneously, the actor has also filed a plea before the High Court seeking a gag order in his trial in the assault case occurring at the lower court. 

In that case, the Court has directed the State Police Chief to enquire into the allegations raised by the actor that the media was flouting the trial court's order restricting the publication of matters related to the case till the conclusion of the trial.

Case Title: P Gopalakrishnan alias Dileep & Ors. v State of Kerala & Ors.