Kerala Government Moves Supreme Court Seeking Change Of Trial Judge In Actor Sexual Assault Case

The Kerala Government has filed a Special Leave Petition before the Supreme Court challenging the Kerala High Court order dismissing the applications filed by the prosecution and the victim seeking to change the judge holding trial in the sensational actor sexual assault case of 2017.

Prominent Malayalam Actor Dileep is the eighth accused in this case. 

Earlier both the state and the victim of the crime had filed applications in the High Court of Kerala seeking to transfer the case from the present court stating that she was aggrieved by the "biased and hostile" attitude of the presiding judge. It was alleged that judge sat like a "mute spectator" when she was harassed by the lawyer of the actor Dileep, who is the alleged mastermind behind the crime. She further alleged that the trial judge refused to record certain portions of her testimony without any justification, despite repeated requests made by the Prosecutor.

"When the question is one of transfer of a criminal case on the ground of judicial bias, mere allegation of apprehension of bias is not enough, the court has to see whether such apprehension is reasonable or not", Justice VG Arun had observed while dismissing the petitions.  The court had also observed that the prayer for transfer on the ground of harassment of witness during cross examination cannot be entertained at this stage since the prosecution failed to initiate appropriate and timely action to redress the grievances.

Following the dismissal, Special Prosecutor A. Sureshan returned his brief.

This is the second time, a matter related to the 2017 actor sexual assault is reaching the Top Court. In November 2019, while rejecting Dileep's plea for a copy of the memory card allegedly containing the visuals of the sexual crime, the Supreme Court had ordered that the trial in the case should be completed expeditiously, "preferably within six months".