Actor assault: Prosecution terms Dileep acquittal ‘unsustainable’, prepares appeal
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Kochi: The prosecution in the 2017 actor assault case has described the trial court’s verdict acquitting Malayalam film star Dileep and three others as “unsustainable,” and said an appeal will be filed soon.
A report prepared by Special Public Prosecutor V. Aja Kumar and submitted to the Director General of Prosecution was highly critical of the acquittal of Dileep, his associates, and the sentence awarded to six convicted individuals.
“The trial court has applied double standards in evaluating the evidence of the prosecution against A1 to A7, as opposed to A7, A8, A9 and A15, particularly in the case of A8 and A15,” the report stated. A8 refers to Dileep, while A15 is his friend Sarath G. Nair.
The prosecution alleged that the evidence it presented was assessed in a “most unfair, non-judicious and partisan manner,” adding that “most of the valuable pieces of evidence were either ignored or discarded without any valid reasons.” It further criticised the trial court for giving flimsy and non-judicious reasons for rejecting the prosecution’s evidence.
The report also pointed out that the six convicted persons received only 20 years of rigorous imprisonment, whereas the maximum punishment for the crimes is life imprisonment.
The prosecution criticised the trial court judgment, which spans 1,709 pages, for being unnecessarily lengthy and difficult to read. “The judgment has become voluminous due to discussions on irrelevant matters and illegal justifications to cover serious lapses by the trial judge as well as by the counsels of Dileep and Sarath during the trial,” the report noted.
Last month, the trial court had acquitted Dileep and three others, while sentencing the first six accused, including the prime accused Pulsar Suni, to 20 years of rigorous imprisonment.
Lawyers associated with the prosecution said the state government has already approved filing an appeal before the Kerala High Court, and the application will be submitted soon, an official confirmed.
With PTI inputs