Actor Sexual Assault Case : Supreme Court Expresses Hope For Trial To Be Completed Expeditiously, Seeks Progress Report

The Supreme Court on Friday expressed hope that the ongoing trial in the 2017 Malayalam actor sexual assault case will be completed expeditiously.

A Bench of Justices Dinesh Maheshwari and Sanjay Kumar expressed this while going through the Trial Judge’s report on the progress of the Trial so far in line with the Court’s earlier directions. It also directed the Trial Judge to send a further progress report regarding the Trial before May 8, the next date of hearing.

“Taking note of the report sent by the learned Trial Judge dealing with the trial and the overall circumstances, these matters stand deferred today, while expecting expeditious proceedings. List these matters on 08.05.2023. We would expect the learned Trial Judge to send further progress report before the next date”, the order recorded.

In February, the Court refused to pass any order to interfere with the examination of witnesses in the ongoing trial before the Court at Ernakulam. The accused in the case, prominent Malayalam actor Dileep, had taken objection to the move made by the prosecution to examine 41 additional witnesses shortly ahead of the January 31 deadline set for the trial. He alleged that it was an attempt by the prosecution to protract the trial.

In the February hearing, the senior counsel R Basant appearing for the survivor submitted that Dileep can’t dictate which witness is relevant and should be examined before the trial court.

Case Title: P Gopalkrishnan @Dileep v State of Kerala | M.A in Criminal Appeal No. 1794/2019

Click Here To Read/Download Order