'Atleast Transfer Case To CBI For Fair Investigation': Dileep Before Kerala HC In Plea To Quash FIR In Murder-Conspiracy Case

The Kerala High Court on Tuesday extensively heard actor Dileep in his plea seeking to quash the FIR filed by the Crime Branch of Kerala Police against him and five others for conspiring to murder the investigation officials in the 2017 actor rape case, in which Dileep is facing trial as the chief conspirator.

Justice Ziyad Rahman A.A part-heard the arguments in the afternoon session and agreed to hear the rest tomorrow at 1:45 pm.

In 2017, a popular actress was abducted and raped in a moving vehicle pursuant to a conspiracy, allegedly schemed by Dileep. Being the 8th accused in the case, he is now undergoing trial before the CBI Special Judge. The case made headlines once again in 2022 when film director Balachandrakumar made shocking disclosures against the actor bringing out new allegations against him. 

He had released audio recordings of people, allegedly including Dileep attempting to sabotage the 2017 case and planning to endanger the lives of the officials. Following this, the trial court (which handles the 2017 actor rape case) had recorded 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.

Senior Advocate Siddarth Agarwal appearing for Dileep elaborately argued his case before the Court today for over three hours, primarily pointing out that this was a bogus FIR filed solely due to personal vendetta against the actor. The Senior Counsel took the Court through the entire timeline of events and finally contended that mere words expressing anger and outburst at the officers who arrested Dileep through a TV screen cannot be construed as conspiracy to kill them. 

It was submitted that such utterances could not be a threshold to attract the offences charged against the actor, particularly since no action whatsoever had been taken in furtherance of such utterances or alleged conspiracy all along. The Counsel added that if such a view is encouraged, it would lead to a dangerous era where the accused can be penalised for the mere presumption that they could have thought of committing a crime when they were merely . 

It was also noted that in the first FIS, there was no mention about the specific allegations of planning to kill an investigating officer or chop off the palm of another police officer as appears in the FIR. On this ground, the counsel submitted that 'an FIR that was lifeless at its inception cannot be injected with life, later on.'

Further, it was pointed out that the investigation carried out in the said case was not fair particularly since it was led by an officer who had personal grudge against the actor. The senior counsel alleged that there was an institutional bias on part of the Crime Branch and if the Court was not inclined to quash the FIR, the probe may be atleast transferred to another independent agency, like the CBI, to ensure fair investigation.

"An interview given to a news channel finds its way in a written form to the local police and then to the Crime Branch which then seeks time to complete further investigation before the trial court. This cannot be a coincidence."

There has been instances where the CBI has unearthed the police investigation being based on fabricated evidence, the counsel submitted, hinting that this would happen in the present case as well if entrusted with the CBI.

"The ongoing investigation will not be fair, given the involvement of the 3rd respondent (investigation officer) and his overbearing presence in every step of the case."

The primary allegation was that since the actor's involvement in the sexual assault case could not be proved, the officers involved were attempting to exonerate him in the murder conspiracy case. It was submitted that the accused had disproved every shred of inconsistency in the investigation in the first case which prompted the new allegations in Decemeber 2021. 

"This is achieving something indirectly that they couldn't achieve directly."

The Counsel went on to argue that there was no iota of material to find him guilty of the said allegations and spoke of the media trial that the actor has been facing since the inception of the 2017 sexual assault case. It was very strongly argued that the media was hell bent on propagating falsehood against the actor. 

"In one instance, the media even managed to publish the submissions which were to be made before the Court on the next day." 

In his plea, actor Dileep accused the filing of the impugned FIR as a vindictive, ill-motivated, pre-determined and malafide act executed with oblique motives.

According to the actor, this FIR was registered merely to fabricate evidence in the 2017 actor abduction and rape trial which is going on before the Additional Special Sessions Judge. It was also contended that the FIR was registered in violation of provisions of Section 154 of CrPC (information in cognizable cases) since there is a total absence of any allegation or material to attract the offences alleged in the FIR.