Actress Assault Case: Kerala High Court relieves Renjith Marar as amicus curiae

The Kerala High Court on Wednesday relieved advocate Renjith B Marar from acting as amicus curiae in a matter related to the infamous 2017 actress assault case..Justice K Babu had on August 21, appointed Marar as amicus curiae to assist the Court formulate guidelines to ensure the safety of electronic documents in judicial custody.Today, Justice Babu relieved Marar of the responsibility, accepting his request in that regard. The judge also said that Marar had informed him on Monday itself of his inability to fulfill the role of amicus curiae..Marar was appointed when the Court was considering a plea moved by the survivor in the 2017 actress assault case alleging foul play in the investigation in the case in which cine actor Dileep is a key accused.In the survivor's plea, filed through advocate TB Mini, the survivor contended that her fundamental right to a fair trial and right to privacy guaranteed under Article 21 of the Constitution were violated.The plea submitted that the visuals of the assault suffered by the petitioner was leaked even though the same was stored in a memory card which was in the custody the court which is conducting the trial in the case.The survivor further alleged that even though the Forensic Science Lab submitted a report confirming the illegal leak, the presiding officer of the trial court has not taken any action or permitted the court staff to be interviewed by the investigating officer."The illegal access tampering transmission of the contents of the memory card while it is in the custard custody of the court also attracts offenses punishable under Section 201, 204 of the Indian Penal Code and also section 67A of the Information Technology Act 2000 which are cognizable offenses to be investigated by the police," the plea said.The survivor, therefore, sought the interference of the High Court to ensure a fair and impartial investigation and trial..On Monday, all parties concluded their submissions following which the Court reserved its verdict in the case. Taking a serious view of the allegations of leakage of electronic evidence while it was in judicial custody, the Court had deemed it fit to appoint an amicus curiae to address that specific issue.