Actor Dileep, accused in the case of assault of a popular Kerala actor, submitted a petition in court on Friday seeking to be discharged from the case.
He has been accused of being the mastermind in the case of alleged kidnapping and molestation of an actor in 2017.
On 20 December, he, along with his lawyers and a technical expert, examined visual evidence of the alleged act, that was allegedly recorded by the other accused persons in the case, at a trial courtroom in Kochi. He had accessed the visuals thrice and claimed they were not authentic. Five other accused and their advocates too had examined the visuals separately.
Following the commencement of the preliminary hearing of the defence earlier this month, six accused had approached the trial court with demand that they should also be given an opportunity to examine the visuals. The trial court then allocated Thursday as the day for it.
Dileep has claimed that the visuals have been edited, reported Media One.
Dileep has told he will bare all about the case once the court gives him a clean chit.
A total of 16 people, including four accused persons – Pulsar Suni (A1), Martin Antony (A2), Manikandan B (A3), Vijeesh VP (A4) – had examined the visuals on Thursday morning along with their advocates, reported The News Minute.
The court will consider his discharge plea on 31 December, reported the media channel.
Dileep was jailed for about eight months back in 2017.
He had earlier challenged the Kerala High Court order and moved the Supreme Court, asking for a copy of the video evidence. The Supreme Court had directed a few days back that the actor be allowed to inspect the evidence to enable him to prepare a defence for the trial.
In February 2017, the film actor was allegedly kidnapped and molested by eight accused in a moving vehicle, which was filmed by the accused to blackmail her.
The accused were booked under provisions of the Indian Penal Code and IT Act.
The pre-trial proceedings of the case is being held at the Additional Special Sessions Court in Ernakulam.
If the trial court rejects Dileep’s petition, he can appeal in the high court and Supreme Court. But this will delay the trial proceedings of the case. Supreme Court has ordered to fast track the case and that it should be completed within six months. In the past, Dileep has been accused of filing several pleas, to delay trial proceedings.
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