Kerala High Court Grants Actor Dileep And 5 Others Anticipatory Bail In Conspiracy Case

The Kerala High Court On Monday (February 7) granted conditional anticipatory bail to actor Dileep and five others in the case relating to conspiracy to do away with the investigation officers probing the actress sexual assault case. The verdict was pronounced by a single bench of Justice P Gopinath. The bench also put forward a few conditions including submission of Dileep's passport and two personal sureties of Rs 1 Lakh each.

The court has also asked the accused to cooperate with the investigation and not try to influence the witnesses by any means. Further, the court warned that any default to the aforementioned conditions would invite the prosecution to initiate severe action and even file a petition for immediate arrest despite a grant of bail. The case was registered by the Crime Branch on January 9 after director Balachandrakumar made a few revelations during his interview given to a local Malayalam channel. An audio clip purportedly of the actor also circulated during this time.

The anticipatory bail was also granted to Dileep's brother P Sivakumar alias Anup and brother-in-law TN Suraj, who are arraigned as accused in the case. Earlier, the police opposed the plea contending that the actor and others were not cooperating with the probe. Refuting the claims, Dileep asserted that the case was a fabricated one and he was cooperating well with the team.

A day ago, Dileep had presented an audio clip of director Balachandrakumar, wherein, the latter was heard requesting the actor to lie to two people from whom he has borrowed money, that his film will be ready in four months. In the court, Dileep said that he had refused to comply with the request, post which the conspiracy case was brought to light. Balachandrakumar had also released a new audio clip of the actor recently.

For women in distress or facing harassment, help available in India at the following helpline numbers: Central Social Welfare Board - Police Helpline: 1091/ 1291, (011) 23317004; Shakti Shalini- women's shelter: (011) 24373736/ 24373737; All India Women's Conference: 10921/ (011) 23389680; Joint Women's Programme: (011) 24619821; Sakshi- violence intervention center: (0124) 2562336/ 5018873; Nirmal Niketan (011) 27859158; JAGORI (011) 26692700; Nari Raksha Samiti: (011) 23973949; RAHI Recovering and Healing from Incest. A support centre for women survivors of child sexual abuse: (011) 26238466/ 26224042, 26227647.