If Dileep is so confident, why not let further investigation reveal the truth: Survivor actress to Kerala High Court

The survivor in the 2017 actress abduction and sexual assault case on Thursday questioned why Malayalam cine actor Dileep was opposed to any further investigation being done in the case in which he is an accused. .Justice Kauser Edappagath had recently allowed the survivor actress to be impleaded as an additional respondent in Dileep's plea seeking to quash any further investigation into the case. Dileep, through Senior Advocate B Raman Pillai, has vehemently opposed both her impleadment and investigation into fresh allegations of him being the lead conspirator in the actress's assault. Over the course of several hearings, he argued that the allegations that the prosecution now seeks to probe are mala fide and concocted by the Investigating Officer who has a vendetta against Dileep. There is absolutely no truth to the allegations, he asserted.This led to Senior Advocate S Sreekumar, representing the survivor, questioning why Dileep was inclined to have any investigation quashed if the truth would establish that he is innocent."If he(Dileep) is so confident that there is no truth to the allegations, then why not let further investigation be conducted so that they can find out the truth? That is all that I want", he asked. Director General of Prosecution, Senior Advocate TA Shaji, echoed this sentiment and concluded his arguments succinctly."Apart from making repeated allegations that there are mala fides and that too without any material, they have no case. That is my submission," the DGP said..The survivor had sought fresh investigation after film director Balachandra Kumar levelled some accusations against Dileep, the alleged mastermind behind her abduction and rape.She had also written to Chief Justice of India NV Ramana expressing her concerns regarding the leak of a video of her assault. The High Court recently initiated a probe into it..Dileep and his associates are being tried by at the Additional Sessions (CBI special No III) Court at Ernakulam for allegedly planning and executing a revenge crime against the survivor, a prominent actress, by having her abducted, sexually assaulted, and photographed in a moving vehicle.The trial which has seen its share of controversies was nearing completion when a film director Balachandra Kumar gave an interview and released some audio clips indicating close association between Dileep, the 8th accused in the case, and Pulsar Suni, the 1st accused.On January 3, the Investigating Officer (IO) in the case had informed the CBI Special Court that further investigation would be necessary in light of the new allegations.The clips and Kumar's statements revealed a conspiracy to kill the police officers who were involved in the investigation, and a new FIR was registered against Dileep and 5 others.He then approached the Court along with the other accused seeking anticipatory bail and the same was granted on February 7.Dileep then approached the High Court to prevent any further investigation into the sexual assault case or in the alternative, hand over the investigation to the CBI.In this plea, Dileep has repeated his allegation that registration of the FIR in the news case is nothing but "a vindictive and retaliatory act" of Deputy Superintendent of Police Baiju Poulose, Crime Branch.It was contended that the supposed victims of the new FIR, a DGP, IG, two SPs and a DySP are all working with the Crime Branch and were involved in the preparation of the final report in the 2017 actress sexual assault case. It was argued that the same impedes his right to a fair trial guaranteed under Article 21 of the Constitution..The State prosecution had recently approached the Supreme Court seeking an extension of time to complete the trial in the assault case. The top court had disposed of the same stating that it was up to the trial court to take an appropriate decision in that regard.In the meantime, the Kerala High Court allowed the prosecution to summon 5 additional witnesses.Dileep has also approached the Kerala High Court with a separate plea seeking to restrain the media from reporting on the trial of the sexual assault case till the final verdict is pronounced..After several lengthy hearings, the Court on Thursday reserved verdict in the matter..Follow Bar and Bench channel on WhatsAppDownload the Bar and Bench Mobile app for instant access to the latest legal news.