[Dileep case] Special Public Prosecutor Anil Kumar resigns; second SPP to resign from the case

Special Public Prosecutor (SPP) Anil Kumar in charge of handling the case against Malayalam actor Dileep and his associates, the actress assault case, has handed in his resignation..At the hearing on Thursday, Additional Public Prosecutor KB Sunilkumar filed a statement confirming SPP Anil Kumar's resignation and sought time to make alternate arrangements before the Additional Sessions (CBI special No III) Court in Ernakulam hearing the case. .Anil Kumar is the second SPP to resign from the case midway. The previous SPP A Suresan had resigned in December 2020 taking strong objection to allegedly derogatory remarks made by the judge in the case. The prosecution had also made repeated attempts to transfer the case to another judge but the said requests were rejected first by the Additional Sessions Court and then the Kerala High Court..Today, the Additional Sessions Court directed the Investigating Officers to make the necessary arrangements to enable the disposal of the case by February 16, 2022, as directed by the Supreme Court..Malayalam actor Dileep, the eighth accused in the assault case, recently withdrew his discharge petition filed in the Supreme Court, as the trial in the assault case was in its final stages before the CBI Court.The actor and his associates are being tried for hatching a conspiracy to take revenge on a female actor in the Malayalam film industry by having her abducted, sexually assaulted, and photographed.It was alleged that the victim had a role to play in Dileep’s separation from his former wife.Six persons were arrested and arrayed as accused after the female actor was driven around in a car and sexually assaulted, allegedly at Dileep’s behest. In November 2020, the Kerala High Court had dismissed petitions filed by the prosecution and the survivor to transfer the trial from the Additional Sessions Court presently hearing the matter to another Judge.Earlier, an Additional Special Sessions Court had rejected the plea to transfer the trial. On October 16, the prosecution in the case, led by Special Public Prosecutor A Suresan, had voiced its protest over some allegedly derogatory remarks made by the Additional Sessions Court Judge hearing the assault matter. It was alleged that the Special Public Prosecutor was harassed during the hearings. Suresan had resigned as SPP after the High Court verdict..The matter will be heard next on January 4, 2022.