KOCHI: Actor Dileep, who is in judicial custody in connection with the actress assault case, will continue to remain in jail as the Angamaly Judicial First Class Magistrate Court rejected his bail plea yet again. This is the fourth time the actor’s bail plea is being rejected.
Dismissing the plea, the court on Monday observed considering the gravity of the offence, the actor can apply for default bail only if the investigation team fails to file the final report within 90 days. The court observed the remand report stated Dileep conspired with Pulsar Suni, the first accused, to videograph the nudity of the victim in furtherance of the conspiracy to abduct and sexually assault the actress on February 17.
“The punishment provided for offence under section 376 D (gangrape) of IPC is imprisonment for a term which shall not be less than 20 years, but which may extend to life. Considering the punishment imposed for the offence of gangrape, the actor can apply for default bail only if the investigation agency fails to file the final report within 90 days,” the court observed and dismissed the bail petition. The counsel for the petitioner had earlier contended he was not involved in the offence under section 376 (D) and only charges of the conspiracy had been slapped on him.
Dileep stated the first remand report submitted by the investigation team itself said criminal conspiracy merely involved capturing nude photos of the actor. Hence, the defence contended Dileep cannot be charged with the offence under Section 376 (D) (gangrape). Citing the remand report, which levelled 20 charges against Dileep, the defence said the agreement or object of conspiracy specifically pertained to the purpose of taking nude photos and videos. Therefore, the gangrape charge cannot be pressed against Dileep, and he is entitled to bail since he has completed 60 days in custody on September 9, the plea stated. Opposing the actor’s argument, the prosecution contended the actor conspired with Pulsar Suni to not only capture the nude photos, but also to videograph the sexual assault. Suni acted as per the conspiracy. Hence, the allegation also comes under section 376 D, the prosecution stated.
The one-and-a-half hour long proceedings were held in-camera. Earlier, the actor’s bail plea was rejected once by the Angamaly court and twice by the High Court.