Memory Card A 'Document' Or 'Material Object' ? SC To Pronounce Judgment Tomorrow In Actor Dileep's Plea

 The Supreme Court will pronounce judgment on Malayalam actor Dileep's plea seeking the copy of the memory card in the criminal case relating to the abduction and sexual assault of an actress in February 2017.

The bench comprising Justices A M Khanwilkar and Dinesh Maheswari will be deciding whether the accused is entitled to copy of a memory card under Section 207 of the Code of Criminal Procedure. The High Court of Kerala had held memory card to be a 'material object' and dismissed Dileep's plea.

The memory card allegedly contains the visuals of the sexual offence committed on the actress. Dileep is accused as the conspirator of the crime.

In the petition in SC, Senior Advocate Mukul Rohatgi argued for Dileep that the visuals were doctored. The allegation in the chargesheet was that the actress was attacked in a moving vehicle; however, the visuals of the memory card were of a stationary vehicle. Dileep's lawyers were not shown a single continuous video, but a collection of several edited clips, which contained audio of strangers' voices. To establish the innocence of Dileep, it is highly essential to have copy of the memory card, submitted Rohatgi.

The Government of Kerala opposed the petition saying "If the copy of the footage is given without taking into consideration the Fundamental Rights and the Right of Privacy of the victim, the same will adversely affect the case of the prosecution".

It further stated that Dileep and his lawyers have already watched the visuals in the memory card in the chamber of Judicial First Class Magistrate, and no prejudice was caused to him due to its non-supply.

The Kerala High Court had dismissed the plea holding that memory card in the case amounted to a material object and not a documentary evidence.

"The crux of the prosecution allegation is that, offence was committed for the purpose of recording it on a medium. Memory card is the medium on which it was recorded. Hence, memory card seized by the police itself is the product of the crime. It is not the contents of the memory card that is proposed to be established by the production of the memory card", observed Justice Sunil Thomas in the High Court judgment.

On that basis, the HC  held : "Memory card itself is the end product of the crime. It is hence a material object and not a documentary evidence. Hence, it stands out of the ambit of section 207 Cr.P.C".