KOCHI: The state government will soon, likely this week itself, file an appeal before the Kerala High Court against the order of the Principal Sessions Court, Ernakulam, granting anticipatory bail to actor and CPM MLA Mukesh in a rape case registered on the complaint of a film actress.
An officer of the director general of prosecution, HC, has given legal opinion to the government for filing an appeal as the prosecution believes there is substantial evidence to establish a prima facie case against Mukesh. As for challenging the directive in actor Edavela Babu’s favour, the prosecution said the order is yet to be released by the sessions court.
The prosecution plans to inform the HC that the sessions court delved deeply into the case’s merits while deciding on Mukesh’s plea. The prosecution will highlight that by going into the merits, the sessions court prejudged the case, which could render trial futile. “The bail order amounts to a mini-trial, which is against the law,” said a law officer of the state. The officer opined that the sessions court judge exceeded jurisdiction by saying the complainant is a law graduate, married, and someone with the capacity to understand the nature and consequences of sexual indulgence, and yet accompanied the accused and had sexual intercourse. “There is no point in making such assumptions while granting bail to an accused,” said the officer.
The prosecution will also argue that the court disregarded the victim’s statement at the bail stage, despite it not being the time to test the veracity of evidence. The victim’s statement, especially in cases involving sexual assault, holds significant weight and should not be disregarded without proper trial procedures. The victim clearly said she was raped by the accused, who promised her membership in the Association of Malayalam Movie Artists. Though the victim had explained the delay in filing the complaint, saying she found the courage to inform the police after the Justice Hema Committee report was released, the sessions judge rejected it.