Kochi: The Kerala High Court on Tuesday condoned a 17-day delay in the appeal filed by the state government challenging a sessions court order that acquitted actor Dileep in the 2017 actress assault case. The state has also sought enhancement of the punishment awarded to the six persons convicted in the case.

A division bench comprising Justice A K Jayasankaran Nambiar and Justice Jobin Sebastian condoned the delay and issued notice to the respondents.

In its appeal, the state has requested the High Court to set aside the acquittal of Dileep, who was arraigned as the eighth accused in the case. It has also challenged the acquittal of other accused persons allegedly involved in the conspiracy behind the crime.

The trial court had earlier acquitted accused Nos. 7, 8, 9 and 15. Apart from Dileep (A8), those acquitted include Charly Thomas (A7), Sanilkumar (A9) and Sarath G Nair (A15), who were accused of participating in the alleged criminal conspiracy.

The state has argued in its appeal that the acquittals are illegal and unsustainable, claiming the trial court failed to conduct a holistic evaluation of the evidence related to the alleged larger conspiracy behind the crime.

The state has also sought enhancement of the sentence awarded to the six convicted persons, arguing that the punishment imposed by the trial court is inadequate considering the gravity of the offence and its societal impact.

The trial court had convicted six accused in the case. The convicted persons are Pulsar Suni (A1), Martin Antony (A2), B Manikandan (A3), V P Vijeesh (A4), H Saleem (A5) and C Pradeep (A6).

They were found guilty of offences including criminal conspiracy, wrongful confinement, kidnapping, assault with intent to outrage the modesty of a woman, assault with intent to disrobe and gang rape under various sections of the Indian Penal Code.

The six accused were sentenced to 20 years of rigorous imprisonment for gang rape, along with additional concurrent sentences for other offences. The trial court had also directed that ₹5 lakh from the fine amount be paid to the survivor as compensation.

With the delay now condoned, the High Court will proceed to examine the state’s appeal challenging the acquittals and seeking stricter punishment for the convicted accused.
(With LiveLaw inputs.)