Actress Sexual Assault Case: SC Expresses Hope For Trial To End Quickly, Seeks Progress Report

The Supreme Court expressed hope on Friday that the ongoing trial in the 2017 Malayalam actress sexual assault case will be ended quickly.

This was stated by a Bench of Justices Dinesh Maheshwari and Sanjay Kumar while reviewing the Trial Judge’s report on the status of the Trial so far in accordance with the Court’s earlier directions. It also directed the Trial Judge to send a further progress report on the Trial before the next hearing date i.e., May 8.

“Taking note of the Trial Judge’s report on the trial and the overall circumstances, these matters are deferred today, with the expectation of expeditious proceedings. List these matters on May 8, 2023. We anticipate that the learned Trial Judge will send a further progress report before the next date,” the order stated.

In February, the Court refused to pass any orders interfering with the examination of witnesses in the ongoing trial before the Court at Ernakulam. The accused in the case, famed Malayalam actor Dileep, had objected to the prosecution’s decision to call 41 more witnesses soon ahead of the trial’s January 31 deadline. He said that it was an attempt by the prosecution to delay the trial.

During the February hearing, the survivor’s senior counsel, R Basant, argued that Dileep cannot decide which witnesses are important and should be called before the trial court.