Actress assault case: Kerala HC dismisses Dileep’s plea for CBI probe

A Division Bench of the Kerala High Court, on Monday, dismissed a petition of actor Dileep seeking a CBI probe into the Malayalam actress sexual assault case.

Dileep is the 8th accused in the case and is accused of hatching the conspiracy in the crime.

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A bench of the high court comprising Justice A Muhamed Mustaq and Justice P Krishnakumar, while upholding the single bench order dismissing Dileep’s plea for a CBI probe into the actress sexual assault case, rejected his appeal. “We finally concur with the learned Single Judge regarding the relief declining for further instructions to the CBI as it is now we also find that trial is heading to final conclusion,” the bench observed.

In 2018, Dileep moved the Kerala High Court seeking transfer of the investigation in the actress assault case to the CBI contending that the investigation carried out by the state police was biased against him.

However, a single bench of Justice Sunil Thomas dismissed his petition prompting him to file the present appeal in 2019. Nearly six years later, Dileep pressed for a CBI probe once again and the matter was listed before the Division Bench. The Bench on Monday found no merit in his plea for a fresh CBI probe into the case and dismissed the plea. Dileep, along with nine others, is accused in the case.

The case dates back to February 2017 when a prominent Malayalam cine actress was abducted and raped in a moving car in Kochi allegedly at the behest of Dileep, who at the time was one of the most influential actors in the Malayalam film industry.

Dileep reportedly had a personal score to settle with the actress allegedly because she told his ex-wife Manju Warrier that he was engaged in an extra-marital affair.