KOCHI: Actor Dileep on Tuesday approached the Additional Special Sessions Court with a petition seeking to discharge him from the actor abduction case. He also submitted a list of queries regarding the authenticity of the visuals of the victim which could be verified with the help of the Central Forensic Science Laboratory (CFSL) as per the Supreme Court’s directive.
On Tuesday morning, the court considered the case as part of a preliminary hearing before framing charges against the accused persons. Dileep’s counsel was not present at the proceedings in the morning and filed the discharge petition in the evening.
Taking up Dileep’s plea, the court orally observed that some portions of the petition should not be discussed. It decided to adopt in-camera hearing on the plea. On the request of Dileep’s counsel, the court decided to continue the hearing on the same on Wednesday evening.
The actor also submitted the list of queries after viewing the visuals in the presence of an IT expert on November 19.
This was done as per the apex court’s directive while disposing of Dileep’s plea in November. The court had said Dileep can, after watching the visuals, submit queries related to the authenticity of the visuals that can be verified with the help of an expert agency like the CFSL.
Based on his queries, the Additional Special Sessions Court can ask the State Forensic Science Laboratory to provide a cloned copy of the pen drive or memory card containing the visuals which it would forward to CFSL for the examination as per Dileep’s demand.
However, only CSFL’s report will be provided to Dileep which he can use for the cross-examination of the witnesses during the trial.
On February 17, 2017, a Malayalam film actor was abducted and molested inside a moving vehicle.
The videos of the attack were recorded. Dileep was arrested on July 10, 2017.
Preliminary hearing
The court considered the case as part of a preliminary hearing before framing charges against the accused persons