The views of the survivor in the sensational actor rape case will be sought regarding the appointment of the special prosecutor as trial has hit a roadblock following the resignation of the prosecutor.
The new situation was warranted following the resignation of V.N. Anilkumar from the post, though the government has not accepted his resignation.
The State is keen to protect the interest of the survivor in the case. Hence, she would be consulted before zeroing in on the lawyer, who would be leading the prosecution.
Efforts are on to persuade Mr. Anilkumar to resume the job. If he agreed to return to the court, he would continue. If not, he may have to be replaced with a new one, legal sources indicated.
The State, felt the legal sources, has got a breathing time to decide on the special prosecutor as the police have sought time for completing the further investigation in the case.
Currently, an additional public prosecutor is appearing in the case to complete the examination of the witnesses. A special prosecutor would have to be there in the court, once the court resumed the proceedings in full steam, sources said.
Incidentally, the trial entered the second year on Sunday as it was on January 30, 2020, that the trial in the case began with the Kerala High Court appointing Honey M. Varghese as the Special Judge. Ms. Varghese was handpicked by the High Court on a plea of the survivor to have a woman judicial officer to consider the case.
The case took a new turn a few weeks ago with the disclosure of P. Balachandrakumar, a filmmaker, on the alleged conspiracy hatched by actor Dileep, the eighth accused in the case, to harm the investigation officers.
Till now, the trial court has completed the examination of 209 witnesses.
