The Kerala High Court on Tuesday, 19 April, declined to quash the FIR accusing actor Dileep and others of conspiring to threaten and kill the officials probing the 2017 actor assault case.
Dileep in his plea had asked the court to either quash the case against him, or direct the investigation to be handed over to the CBI. He had alleged that the FIR accusing murder conspiracy was an outcome of a personal animosity against the actor as all his family members have been implicated in it.
A bench led by Justice Ziyad Rahman AA delivered the verdict on Tuesday afternoon.
The Crime Branch, represented by Director General of Prosecutions (DGP) TA Shaji and Additional Public Prosecutor P Narayanan had argued that the alleged utterances by the accused of threatening to harm the officials indicated what was in their mind and was a “manifestation” of their agreement or conspiracy.
In January 2022, a case was registered against Dileep and five others for allegedly plotting a conspiracy to murder police officials who are investigating the case. The allegations came to light after his former friend and director Balachandra Kumar released a number of audio clips, purportedly of Dileep and his relatives, plotting murder.
During the hearing of his plea to quash the FIR, Dileep submitted to the court that the case was filed because he allegedly "wished" something and that there was "no human being who has not thought ill of another person, but that cannot be the cause for alarm or a basis for lodging an FIR."
Justice Ziyad Rahman AA asked the prosecution how mere utterances made by the actor could be deemed as conspiracy.
The prosecution responded that Dileep's threats were not just utterances. The allegations against him could be corroborated by other evidence.
Dileep's former wife, Manju Warrier, was also questioned by the Crime Branch team. She identified voice samples of actor Dileep and two other accused family members in the case
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