The Kerala High Court on Tuesday granted bail to actor Dileep in the case relating to the sexual assault of a woman actor .
The court ordered that the actor be released on bail on his executing a bond for Rs. 1 lakh. The other conditions are that he should surrender his passport before the court and appear before the investigation office whenever required.
The court passed the order while allowing a bail petition filed by him for the third time.
The actor, who has been in prison since his arrest on July 10, pointed out in his petition that the investigation was practically complete, all the witnesses were questioned and recovery was effected. Therefore, no further detention of the petitioner was necessary. He said that he was working in various film projects at the time of his arrest. He had received advance amount to act in some films.
The continued detention of the petitioner was delaying the shooting and release of these movies. It would have a catastrophic effect on the lives of many people working in the film industry. Besides, the investigation agency had no case that the petitioner had ever threatened or influenced any witnesses. So, there was no justification for his continued detention on the grounds that he would tamper with evidence or influence the witnesses, he contended.
Mobile phone yet to be recovered
The prosecution, opposing the bail, submitted that the mobile phone used for recording the sexual assault was yet to be recovered. If the accused was released on bail, he would destroy the evidence and influence the witnesses. The probe was in the final stage and statements of four witnesses had to be recorded in-camera.
The prosecution further submitted that the special investigation team probing the case would file a supplementary charge sheet before the expiry of the statutory period of 90 days from his arrest.
The charge against Dileep is that he conspired with ‘Pulsar’ Suni, the first accused, to videograph the nudity of the victim in furtherance of the conspiracy to abduct and sexually assault the woman actor. The incident took place on February 17.
