Actress Assault Case: Kerala High Court appoints Renjith Marar as amicus curiae to evolve guidelines for safety of electronic evidence

The Kerala High Court on Monday appointed advocate Renjith B Marar as amicus curie to help the Court formulate guidelines to ensure the safety of electronic documents in judicial custody..The issue came to the notice of the Court while it 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.Justice K Babu held several extensive hearings in the case before reserving his verdict on Monday..In her plea filed through advocate TB Mini, the survivor alleged that against all ethical and legal norms, the advocates representing Dileep interfered with the administration of justice by tampering with evidence and illegally influencing material witnesses.The plea stated that evidence in this regard has already been published in the media..It was contended that the fundamental right of the petitioner to a fair trial and her 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..Today the Court noted that unlike most other cases, the memory card is the direct evidence in this case and, therefore, appointed Marar as amicus curiae to suggest guidelines to ensure safety of electronic documents in judicial custody.