KOCHI: The Additional Special Sessions Court on Thursday gave a “last chance” to the prosecution for submitting all documents to substantiate its contention for cancelling the bail of actor Dileep in the 2017 actor assault case. The prosecution maintained that the report by forensic science laboratory (FSL), which examined mobile phones of Dileep and his close aides, reveals that the star had tampered with evidence by erasing data from his phone.
The prosecution sought more time for producing the documents. “Time is granted till May 26 as the last chance with a direction to produce the entire documents which the prosecution wants to rely on,” the court ruled. The court told the prosecution that the hearing on May 26 will start only after ensuring that all documents are produced.
When the hearing commenced, public prosecutor Sunil Kumar said 12 chat messages were deleted from Dileep’s two mobile phones after connecting them with an iMac computer. Judge Honey M Varghese asked whether these chats are in anyway related to influencing the witnesses in the case.
The prosecution submitted a soft copy of the FSL analysis. According to the prosecution, Dileep’s Vivo mobile phone was connected to a Redmi mobile phone using Bluetooth and data was transferred on January 6, 2022. The FSL report reveals that in January, a new email ID — sarowaram1968@gmail.com — was created to transfer the data.
Similarly, audio clips were recovered from the third mobile phone used by Dileep. To this, the court asked whether the prosecution has submitted all documents related to the FSL analysis of the third mobile phone. The prosecution said the soft copy containing the FSL analysis of the third phone is voluminous. Hence, it did not present it in the court.
The court claimed that if the prosecution is relying on a set of documents, those have to be submitted to the court. The court maintained that unlike granting or denying bail, there should be overwhelming and clinching circumstances to cancel it.
According to the prosecution, the Kerala High Court refused to quash the FIR registered in the other case registered against Dileep for conspiring to murder police officers who probed the actor abduction and rape case. So, Dileep has violated the bail condition by involving in another crime. To this, the court pointed out that when Dileep was granted bail earlier, no condition that he shouldn’t be involved in another crime was laid down.
The prosecution’s comment that the court feels that everything on Dileep’s part is fair and the prosecution’s unfair led to heated exchanges. The court warned prosecutor Sunil Kumar for making such comments. The court stated that it is not a messiah of either Dileep or the prosecution. The court is here to see justice is done, the judge said.
SREEJITH NOT SUPERVISING PROBE, GOVT TELLS HC
KOCHI: The government on Thursday informed the Kerala HC that ADGP S Sreejith was not supervising the investigation in the 2017 actor assault case. After he was transferred as transport commissioner, new crime branch ADGP Shaik Darvesh Saheb has been supervising the probe, it said. The court directed the government to file a report including the transfer order on or before May 30. The directive came on a petition by film director Baiju Kottarakkara challenging the transfer of Sreejith from the agency chief’s post and as the supervising officer of the case.