The Kerala High Court on Friday directed the State government to file a statement in response to a plea by actor Dileep for quashing the FIR lodged against against him for allegedly hatching a conspiring to murder investigating officers in the actor sexual assault case.
Justice K. Haripal also issued notice to the State government and the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on the petition moved by the actor.
The actor in his petition also made an alternative plea for a CBI probe into the case if the court is not inclined to quash the FIR.
Actor’s contention
According to his petition, the case had been registered with the oblique motive of creating false evidence in the sexual assault case. It was based on the the false unsigned statements of director Balachandrakumar cooked up by Baiju Paulose, Dy.SP, Crime Branch, also the investigating officer in the sexual case, for wreaking vengeance on him. Besides the ‘victims’ in the case were all police officers of the Crime Branch and involved in the preparation of the final report in the actor assault case. Therefore, the investigation of the case would not be fair, he said.
When the petition came up for hearing, B. Raman Pillai, senior counsel for Dileep, submitted that the registration of FIR was illegal. Besides,there was no material to prove the alleged conspiracy.
‘At the behest of Dileep’
Meanwhile, director P Balachandrakumar approached the High Court seeking anticipatory bail in the rape case registered against him. According to his petition, the rape case was registered as a counter to his revelations that in the conspiracy case against the investigating officers.
The prosecution alleged that he had raped the complainant in 2010 and recorded the incident on his mobile phone. The director said the alleged incident surfaced only in February 2022 following his revelations. The complaint was filed at the behest of Dileep, he said.
