The Kerala High Court on Tuesday asked the police not arrest actor Dileep until January 14 when his anticipatory bail plea will be heard in connection with charges of threatening investigation officers probing the actor sexual assault case from 2017.
In an oral observation, Justice Gopinath P has told the state to not take any action until January 14. The public prosecutor has been director to gather more information.
Senior government pleader Saju, appearing for the prosecution, and advocate Thomas T Varghese, who is also representing the actor, confirmed the court's oral order.
During a brief hearing on Tuesday, advocate Philip T Varghese, appearing for the actor, told the court that the present case has been lodged on a complaint by one of the investigating officers, who did not want to be examined during trial.
Of the several new charges slapped against Dileep, Section 120 B is of some consequence under which there is a provision for the arrest of the accused. It is under this section that a conspiracy charge has been slapped against Dileep which makes an accused liable for 2 years imprisonment.
The other sections slapped against Dileep are IPC Sections 116, 118, 506 and 34. Of these, some of the charges are non-bailable which has strengthened the case against Dileep.
The new case
Last week the Crime
Branch registered a case against six accused, including Dileep,
brother Anoop, brother-in-law Sooraj, driver Appu, accomplice Baiju
of Chengamanad and an unknown "VIP" on charges of
pronouncing death threat against certain police officials and for
engaging in a conspiracy to achieve this end.
The police registered the case against them after film director Balachandrakumar stated that he was witness to the conspiracy hatched by the accused to finish off inquiry officers, including Deputy Superintendents of Police Baiju Paulose and KS Sudarshan, who was part of the team which arrested Dileep months after the gang abducted and assaulted the lady actor.
Balachandrakumar also submitted relevant voice recordings to the police.
Audio clip crucial
While slapping
serious charges against Dileep only on the basis of an audio clip,
the authenticity of the voice in the audio clip is likely to be
questioned in court. There are many who can mimic the voice of
Dileep, himself a popular mimicry artist prior to commencing a career
in the cine world. Under these circumstances, the investigating
officials will have to get the voice clip examined by voice experts
using modern scientific and technical tools for ascertaining the
authenticity of the voice.
Dileep's lawyers are likely to argue that under these circumstances the provisions including section IPC 120B is unlikely to stand. The opposite parties argument would be that the group conversation of the accused cannot be created.
The conversation in the audio clip included a discussion on the amount of money that would be spent for fighting the case once the investigating officers Baiju Paulose and K S Sudarshan, who had allegedly assaulted Dileep during his previous arrest are murdered.
There is no doubt that Dileep will have to pay a heavy price should the court accept the arguments put forward by the opposite party, viz., the Kerala Police. The FIR also alleged that Dileep had conspired to get accused number one Pulsar Suni, alias Sunil Kumar, murdered after getting him out on bail. Pulsar Suni's mother has corroborated the allegation while giving a statement to the police.
The complainants will appraise the court of this matter.
Was that a conspiracy?
A section of
lawyers are raising the doubt whether a statement made by a person in
his home about killing the man who assaulted him, can be termed as a
conspiracy. While alleging conspiracy charges, it will have to be
proved whether the person had planned the execution of the crime as
well.
There will have to be clarity on what kind of modus operandi the accused had planned for carrying out the murder. There will be practical difficulties in proving when and where the audio was recorded. Moreover, the court may not be ready to proceed further in the case just on the basis of what the person, who brought the audio clip in the public domain, had stated. In such a situation the court will make the examination of the tape mandatory.
There is also the possibility that Dileep might raise the allegation in the court that certain media houses were targeting him with an eye on profit. The other allegation would be that at a time when the trial is entering the final phase, there is a concerted effort to influence important person including witnesses and judges.
It is important to see what kind of seriousness the court attaches to such allegations. It cannot be ruled out that the courts might also look at the police activities with a pinch of salt. The court has already observed that the accused too have some rights.
In the event of getting bail, Dileep might also raise the demand for scrapping the FIR in the case.
Possibility of demand to scrap the bail
Even if the high court allows anticipatory bail to Dileep, the
investigating agencies are likely to go ahead with the case and plan
to get the actor arrested. The investigation team is considering
filing a petition in the court to annul Dileep's bail granted earlier
in connection with the case.
The investigators believe that instead of registering a fresh case, citing violation of bail conditions would be more beneficial in the court. While granting bail to Dileep the court had imposed conditions such as refraining from another crime and influencing witnesses.
The complainant will raise a strong argument that these bail conditions were violated. They would allege that these conditions had been widely misused.
The court had rejected the investigation team’s plea in February for cancellation of Dileep's bail alleging that the actor had attempted to influence the witnesses.
The prosecution had alleged that the eight accused in the case Dileep had tried to threaten the principal witnesses Vipin Lal and Jinson to get a favourable statement from them. The prosecution raised the demand in the trial court alleging that since Dileep had violated the conditions his bail be rejected.
