[BREAKING] Kerala High Court dismisses plea by actor Dileep to quash murder conspiracy case against him

The Kerala High Court on Tuesday refused to quash the first information report (FIR) filed against Malayalam cine actor Dileep for allegedly conspiring to murder the police officers investigating the 2017 actress assault case in which he is an accused [P Gopalakrishnan @ Dileep v State of Kerala & Ors.].Single-judge Justice Ziyad Rahman AA dismissed the plea by Dileep to quash the FIR against him and five others, noting that the powers of the Court under Section 482 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) can be invoked only in the rarest of rare cases. "In the light of the judicial precedents discussed above and applying the principles laid down therein in the facts of this case, the only conclusion possible is that the petitioner could not make out a case, warranting interference at this stage. Even though the power of this Court under Section 482 Cr.PC is very wide; when it comes to the question of quashing an FIR, the same can be invoked only in the rarest of rare cases. I do not find that this is a case that falls in that category, and hence I do not find any circumstances warranting interference in this case. Therefore the prayer for quashing Annexure-9 FIR is hereby declined," the order stated..The Court further opined that even if the allegations may not reveal the offences alleged at this nascent stage of the investigation, the benefit of doubt must go to the investigating authorities and not the accused. "Even if what is revealed from the allegations is a doubtful case for making out the offences, in my view, at the stage of FIR, the benefit of the doubt should go in favour of the investigation and not to the accused. This is mainly because, an interference in the investigation at this stage would foreclose all opportunities for the police to collect materials in support of the allegations. In my view, the duty of the court is not confined to seeing that no innocent person is punished but also to ensuring that proper punishment is granted to the real culprits. Therefore a balance has to be struck, and I find that a proper balancing can be made in this case, by allowing the investigation to continue," the Court said in its order..Dileep and his associates are already being tried by the Additional Sessions (CBI special No III) Court in Ernakulam for allegedly planning and executing a revenge crime against 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 to media and released some audio clips indicating close association between Dileep, who is the 8th accused in the case, and Pulsar Suni, the 1st accused. The clips and Kumar's statements allegedly revealed a conspiracy to kill the police officers who were involved in the investigation of the actress assault case. This led to registration of a fresh FIR against Dileep and five others for offences punishable under Sections 116 (offering bribe to public servant), 118 (concealing design to commit offence punishable with death or imprisonment for life), 506 (criminal intimidation) and 120-B (criminal conspiracy) read with Section 34 (acts done by several persons in furtherance of common intention) of the Indian Penal Code.On February 7, the Kerala High Court granted the accused, including Dileep, anticipatory bail in the matter.Subsequently, he approached the High Court to quash further investigation into the 2017 actress assault case but the same was declined by the Court..Later, Dileep approached the Court, by way of the present plea, to quash all further proceedings in the case of alleged conspiracy to murder police officers. Alternatively, he also prayed that the investigation in the case be transferred from the Crime Branch of the State Police to another investigating agency such as the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).Both reliefs sought for by Dileep were declined by the High Court in its order. .Dileep was represented by represented by Senior Advocate Siddharth Agarwal and advocates Philip T Varghese, Thomas T Varghese, Achu Shubha Abraham, Litha VT, Monisha KR and Nitya R.The Prosecution was led by Director General of Prosecution, Senior Advocate TA Shaji, instructed by Senior Public Prosecutor P Narayanan..Read a summary of the hearings here..[Read Order]