Shivani Gadhavi
Published On: February 07, 2022 at 18:11 IST
The Kerala High Court granted Anticipatory Bail to actor Dileep who is Allegedly Accused of Criminally Conspiring to kill police officers who are Investigating the infamous 2017 Sexual Assault Case of a female actor. Actor Dileep is also one of the main Accused in the Sexual Assault Case.
Actor Dileep and other Accused persons in the present Case, were earlier found to be perpetrators of Abducting and Sexually Assaulting an actress in a moving car in 2017. Director Balachandra Kumar had submitted audio recordings of the Accused persons, within which it was found that they were Conspiring against Investigating officials in order to sabotage the 2017 Case.
Actor Dileep and 5 others were booked of Offences under Sections 506 (Criminal Intimidation), 120B (Criminal Conspiracy), 34 (common intention), 116 (Abetment) and 118 (concealing design to commit Offence) of the Indian Penal Code.
The Anticipatory Bail Application was filed by the set of Counsel for the Petitioner (Accused), Senior Advocate B Raman Pillai and Advocate Philip T Varghese. The set of Counsel for the Petitioner contended that “The Conspiracy is not between the Accused. The Conspiracy is between the ADGP and other Officers with a hidden agenda to register an FIR and throw me behind bars.”
The Senior Advocate for the Petitioner also pointed out that mere suspicion cannot be considered as a ground to hold someone Guilty of Criminal Conspiracy. The Senior Advocate also cited the case of State of Tamil Nadu V Nalini and 25 Ors, wherein it was held that no matter how strong the suspicion, it cannot be considered as proof to find someone Guilty of Criminal Conspiracy.
The Kerala High Court Bench of Justice Gopinath P, in light of all the arguments made, granted Anticipatory Bail to the Accused persons while informing the Prosecution that “Your apprehensions regarding non-cooperation with the Investigation can be addressed by conditions.”