Kochi: The Kerala High Court on Wednesday removed the amicus curiae in the 2017 actress assault case two days after his appointment.
Advocate Renjith B Marar was removed after the prosecution pointed out that he was closely associated with Malayalam actor Dileep, the eighth accused in the case.
The prosecution submitted financial documents to prove Marar's connection to Dileep. Marar had also requested his removal from the post of amicus curiae.
Adv Renjith Marar was appointed as amicus curiae by the High Court for formulating guidelines to ensure the safety of electronic documents in judicial custody. The appointment was made after seeking the opinion of the parties including the government. The court appointed Marar as an amicus curiae while considering the petition filed by the complainant seeking an investigation into the incident of unauthorized opening of a memory card. A forensic report in 2022 revealed that the memory card that had visuals of the sexual assault was accessed more than once in 2018.
Following the appointment, the investigating officer of the case handed over evidence obtained during the probe to the prosecution. These included WhatsApp chats between Renjith Marar and Dileep, and some documents indicating money transfers from Dileep's account to Marar's.
The prosecution subsequently objected to the lawyer appearing as an amicus curiae to assist the court in the case. Renjith Marar had also written a letter to the High Court requesting his removal in the context of the controversy. Considering these two demands, the court decided to exclude him from the position.
A final decision on the new amicus curiae will be taken when the court considers the case later today.
