On Wednesday, the Kerala High Court declined to revoke the bail granted to Malayalam film actor Dileep concerning his purported involvement in the 2017 assault case involving an actress.

In 2022, Justice Sophy Thomas delivered the judgment on a petition filed by the State prosecution. This petition contested the decision of the Additional Special Session Judge in Ernakulam, which had dismissed the State's request to revoke the bail granted to Dileep by the High Court in 2017, in connection to the actress assault case.

The Court clarified that while it upheld the decision of the Sessions judge to not revoke bail, the observations made in her order regarding this matter would not impact the evaluation of evidence during the main trial.

"Since the trial court has made some observations and findings in Crl.MP 891/2022 (prosecution plea to cancel bail), it may tend to appear that the learned judge has made up her mind as to the destruction of evidence, threatening the witness, etc.''

Dileep was arrested on July 10, 2017, in connection to the case. However, he was granted bail by the High Court on October 3, 2017. Subsequently, the prosecution approached the High Court, alleging that Dileep had violated the conditions of his bail. They argued that Dileep and his associates were engaging in various activities, including tampering with evidence and influencing witnesses involved in the prosecution.

Dileep and his associates stand accused of orchestrating and carrying out a retaliatory act against a well-known actress, involving her abduction and sexual assault within a moving vehicle. According to the prosecution, the main accused, Pulsar Suni, allegedly recorded visuals of the assault with the intention of disclosing the survivor's identity through these recordings.

The allegations suggest that this crime was a retaliatory act orchestrated by Dileep, purportedly due to his belief that the survivor played a role in the dissolution of his marriage with another well-known Malayalam actress, Manju Warrier. Initially, Dileep and the other accused were charged with multiple offenses under the Indian Penal Code (IPC), including Sections 366 (kidnapping), 120B (criminal conspiracy), and 376D (gangrape).

In addition to the ongoing case related to the actress assault, Dileep faced further legal scrutiny based on accusations by film director Balachandra Kumar. It was alleged that Dileep conspired to murder the police officers involved in investigating the actress assault case. Despite these serious allegations, Dileep was granted anticipatory bail by the High Court in 2021.

The prosecution, in its plea, presented various instances suggesting Dileep's coercion of prosecution witnesses, including individuals like Vipin Lal, Jinson, and Sagar Vincent. However, when the prosecution initially sought to revoke Dileep's bail, the trial court declined to consider the statements provided by these witnesses regarding Dileep's alleged coercion.

Additionally, the prosecution highlighted that Sagar Vincent, in particular, had separately approached the trial court with a plea detailing the purported instances of coercion he experienced. Moreover, the prosecution argued that the trial court overlooked the alleged destruction of the mobile phones belonging to the accused.