The Supreme Court today dismissed a petition filed by the victim in the Kerala actor sexual assault case asking for the trial to be moved to a different court. Apex court declined to overturn the Kerala High Court's decision denying the survivor's transfer request. The victim came forward to the court and alleged that the trial court's sitting judge of bias.

A bench comprising Justices Ajay Rastogi and CT Ravikumar observed that "we cannot allow all such petitions alleging bias, judges will not be able to discharge their duties without fear and favour then."

The court further stated that granting the transfer motion would set a "bad precedent." The bench continued by saying that the High Court must make the final decision in such cases.

The bench asked Senior Advocate R Basant, who appeared for the petitioner, if there were any concrete instances of showing bias. Mr. Basant submitted that improper questions were allowed to be put to the survivor during cross-examination. The senior lawyer also referred to the refusal of the judge to allow the forensic examination regarding the change in the hash-value of the memory card (which allegedly contains the visuals of the crime).

However, the bench observed that such instances cannot be treated as showing bias. The bench also expressed concerns regarding the demoralising effect on the subordinate courts, if such requests are entertained. The bench asked if there is any instance to show that the judge is not discharging the duties properly.

"The kind of environment we have now, no subordinate judge wants to hear criminal cases. Any observation they make is used against them" observed Justice Rastogi.

Senior Advocate Mukul Rohatgi, representing actor Dileep, submitted that the survivor tried to delay the trial. Rohatgi requested that the petition be subject to high costs from the bench. Dileep has submitted a separate appeal to the Supreme Court asking for the swift and timely resolution of the issue. The trial must be finished, ideally by January 30, 2023, according to the Supreme Court's directions.

The special leave petition was brought against the High Court's single-judge Justice Ziyad Rahmna’s ruling from September 22 that rejected the survivor's argument and stated that there was no evidence to support the judge's bias while observing "After having considered all the relevant factors, I am of the firm conclusion that the petitioner's apprehensions regarding probable interference in the fair trial are not legitimate”.

The incident involved the kidnapping and sexual assault of a female actor in February 2017 on the outskirts of Kochi.

Case Details:-

SLP (Crl) 9544/2022

 XXXX vs State of Kerala