Actress Assault Case: Kerala High Court orders Sessions Judge to give copy of enquiry report on memory card leak to survivor

The Kerala High Court on Wednesday directed that the survivor in the 2017 actress assault case should be provided a copy of the fact-finding report on allegations of unauthorised access to the digital evidence. .On December 8, the High Court had directed the Ernakulam District and Sessions Judge to conduct a fact-finding enquiry into the allegations raised by the survivor regarding unauthorized access to the memory card which contained footage of the assault.Senior Advocate Gaurav Agrawal, the counsel representing the survivor, on Wednesday told the Court that the Sessions Judge has completed the enquiry. He prayed that the enquiry report be provided to the survivor. .Justice Bechu Kurian Thomas accepted the requested and directed the Ernakulam District and Sessions Judge to supply the enquiry report to the survivor.Amongst the persons accused in the rape case is Malayalam cine actor Dileep who is alleged to have orchestrated the attack on the survivor to settle some personal scores..While the trial was underway before the Ernakulam District and Sessions Court, the survivor actress had moved the High Court alleging that the memory card - which holds visuals of the attack and was seized as evidence - was accessed, copied, and transmitted without authorization.It was submitted in the survivor's plea that even though the Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL) submitted a report confirming the illegal leak, the trial court failed to take any action.The High Court reviewed multiple State Forensic Science Laboratory reports on the memory card, noting changes in hash values and unauthorized access on specific dates, concluding that there was unauthorised access on January 9, 2018 and December 13, 2018.It had thus directed the Ernakulam District and Sessions Judge to conduct a fact-finding enquiry into the matter and had also issued comprehensive guidelines on handling sexually explicit materials for law enforcement agencies, courts, and examining authorities.The fact-finding enquiry was subsequently completed by the Sessions Judge. .The survivor actress was represented by Senior Advocate Gaurav Agrawal and advocates TB Mini and C George Thomas.