Malayalam actress sexual assault case: Kerala HC dismisses actor Dileep's plea for CBI probe
Kochi, Dec 19: The Kerala High Court Wednesday dismissed a plea filed by noted Malayalam actor Dileep, an accused in the case of abduction and sexual assault of an actress in February 2017, seeking a CBI probe into the case.
Dismissing the plea, Justice Sunil Thomas observed that the allegations levelled by the actor need to be proved during trial in the sessions court.
Police have investigated the case and filed the charge sheet. The trial of the case is going on, the court said and pointed out that no materials have been placed before it to warrant a CBI investigation.
In his petition, Dileep alleged that the Special Investigation Team of Kerala police had carried out a "sham, unfair, biased, motivated and partisan investigation" in the case.
He alleged that the SIT accepted as the "gospel truth", false charges and fabricated lies provided by the accused persons arrested in connection with executing the crime.
The actor submitted that the truth can be brought out through an investigation by an independent agency, which is not controlled by the state police.
The prosecution opposed the plea, alleging that the actor was adopting delaying tactics.
Dileep was arrested on July 10, 2017 and let out on bail on October 3 after 85 days in custody. The Kerala High Court had granted him bail with stringent conditions.
Seven persons, including key accused 'Pulsar' Suni, were arrested in connection with the actress abduction case.
The actress, who has worked in Tamil and Telugu films, was abducted and allegedly molested inside her car for two hours by the accused, who had forced their way into the vehicle on the night of February 17, 2017 and later escaped in a busy area.
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
NDA's win in Bihar Assembly bypolls a matter of concern: Prashant Kishor
Patna, Nov 23: Political strategist turned activist Prashant Kishor on Saturday dubbed as "a matter of concern" the NDA's win in assembly by-polls in Bihar despite "failure" of the BJP-led coalition to end the state's chronic backwardness during it's decades-long rule.
Talking to reporters here shortly after the results were out, Kishor also drew succour from the fact that his fledgling Jan Suraaj won "10 per cent" of the total votes polled in four seats, but rubbished the claim that it had played a role in the RJD's defeat in three of these.
"RJD is a 30-year-old party. The son of its state president finished third. Can Jan Suraaj be faulted for that? In Belaganj all Muslim votes went to the JD(U) candidate. In Imamganj, the Jan Suraaj cut into NDA votes. Else, the victory margin of (Union minister) Jitan Manjhi's Hindustani Awam Morcha would have been bigger", asserted Kishor.
Notably, Imamganj, a reserved seat, was retained by Manjhi's daughter-in-law Deepa, who defeated the RJD candidate by a thin margin of less than 6,000 votes. Jan Suraaj candidate Jitendra Paswan finished third, polling more than 37,000 votes.
When pointed out that in three of the four seats, candidates of Jan Suraaj had polled less than one-sixth of the total votes and ran the risk of losing their deposits, Kishor shot back "That should not be a matter of concern (chinta ki baat). If there is a matter of concern, it is the ability of the NDA to make a clean sweep despite having ruled Bihar for so long and "failed" to end the state's backwardness".
The IPAC founder, who had a brief stint in the JD(U), insisted that the party's supremo Nitish Kumar, the Chief Minister of Bihar, was a "spent force" and its candidate, former MLC Manorama Devi, had won on her own steam.
"We have always said that our fight is with NDA, not with RJD despite its claim of being the largest party in Bihar.....(but) Nitish Kumar is no factor. His party polled just about 11 per cent of total votes", said Kishor.
About his own party's inability to make a mark, Kishor said "We have secured 10 per cent votes..... in seats where Jan Suraaj had no presence since these areas were yet to be covered by my padyatra. Also, please note that we got our poll symbol after filing of nomination papers was over".
He also maintained that the Jan Suraaj will go solo in the assembly polls due next year when it will contest "all 243 seats".
"We were initially written off but by garnering about 10 per cent votes, in a state known to vote along predictable caste lines, we have proved a point. In the next few months we shall be strengthening the organization to ensure that vote share of the Jan Suraaj improves", he said.
