Kochi: The Kerala High Court on Wednesday directed that actor Dileep, who is an accused in the 2017 actress assault case, be served a notice through his lawyer on the prosecution's plea seeking the cancellation of his bail in the case.
Though a notice to this effect had been issued earlier, Dileep did not accept the same. It is in this context that the court decided to resend the notice through his counsel.
The prosecution approached the High Court after the trial court rejected the prosecution's plea requesting the cancellation of the actor's bail. A single bench headed by Justice Kauser Edappagath will hear the petition.
The High Court's instruction comes as the further trial in the case pertaining to the abduction and torture of the actress is set to begin on Thursday. The case had been adjourned in January pending further investigation. The hearing will be held in a closed courtroom.
Sajith, a prison inmate of prime accused N S Suilkumar aka Pulsar Suni, will be examined first. The trial court had informed the prosecution that a special request would have to be filed to re-examine the following witnesses -- actress Manju Warrier; Dileep's wife Kavya Madhavan; Sagar Vincent, an Alappuzha native who is a former employee of a garment shop run by Kavya and Dileep's relatives; and another prison inmate Jinsen.
Meanwhile, the prosecution has already handed over the list of 39 witnesses who are to be examined by the court immediately. Director P Balachandrakumar, who revealed crucial evidence with regard to the case, has also been included in the new witness list. The supplementary charge sheet contains 112 new witnesses and 300 new documents.
The 2017 actress assault case refers to the abduction and sexual assault of a leading South Indian actress near Kochi.
She was returning home from a shoot and was assaulted sexually by a gang of men after the latter intercepted her car.
Dileep was subsequently arrested after it emerged that he had links with the main accused. He was released on bail in October 2017.
