Did Kerala Police's 'Sealed Cover' Mar Actor Dileep's Chance to Get Bail?

DGP TA Shaji had submitted "disturbing" material in a sealed cover.

Actor Dileep was arrested by the Kerala police in the female actor sexual assault case in July 2017.

(File Photo: Twitter)

What came as a turning point in the bail hearing of Malayalam film actor Dileep, in the recently booked conspiracy to murder case, was a "sealed cover", that Director General of Prosecution (DGP) TA Shaji submitted before Kerala High Court Judge Justice P Gopinath, on Saturday, 22 January.

A section of the interim order, as reported by Live Law, read, "DGP TA Shaji assisted by Additional Public Prosecutor P Narayanan, submitted some material in a sealed cover, which indicates further investigation is necessary. It is not appropriate for me to refer to any material contained therein..."

Here's what we know about this exchange.

The high court on Saturday, 22 January, asked Dileep to appear before investigation officers of the Kerala police from 23 January to 25 January. Dileep was booked for criminal conspiracy after voice clips in which he and his close relatives are heard allegedly plotting to murder investigating officers of the 2017 actor assault case.

In the 2017 case, Dileep was accused of having conspired to get a woman actor in the Malayalam film industry raped.

'Disturbing' Material Produced

Justice Gopinath, before passing his interim order on the bail plea, according to Live Law, said, "There is something that the prosecution has shown me, which is disturbing to be honest." The court had earlier observed that "there are some materials produced by the prosecution" that indicate that "bail could hamper the investigation".

The court had also said that it wants to "protect the investigation".

"Based on the materials collected by the prosecution, here is some indication that there could have been a criminal conspiracy or at least an abetment. This court does not want to hamper that investigation," Justice Gopinath said.

Defense Objects

When the court made the reference to the "disturbing" material, defense advocate Raman Pillai said that he will file an objection. The defense also said that "there are Supreme Court decisions on the prosecution submitting material in sealed cover".

Justice Gopinath, however, said that those judgments only say that, "such material should not be relied on to arrive at a finding, which is then relied on to grant or deny bail".

The court further said, at a later stage that, there is worry about "investigation not progressing in the proper manner if they are released on bail". Justice Gopinath also observed, "If the prosecution fails to bring about any case other than the materials already brought on record, then the offence of criminal conspiracy is not attracted."

Court Observes that Accused is Influential

Passing the interim order, Justice Gopinath said that grant of bail or interim protection will be "detrimental as the accused are very influential".

Referring to the sexual assault case, the court made a note of the prosecution's submission that "a large number of prosecution witnesses" had turned hostile. While the counsels of the accused objected to this, Justice Gopinath said, "The submission shows the influential nature of the accused..."

(With inputs from Live Law)