The Supreme Court of India has rejected the Kerala government’s request to change a judge in a trial court which is hearing the 2017 actor sexual assault case in which actor Dileep is one of the accused.
Reportedly, the Kerala government claimed that the trial court judge was biased in the case. A three-judge bench headed by Justice AM Khanwilkar dismissed the Kerala government’s plea, calling the allegations unwarranted and remarked that such claims will affect the judge's morale.
Initially, the prosecution sought to transfer the case claiming bias by the judge but later the survivor also approached the Kerala High Court backing the prosecution's plea. The survivor had accused the trial court of being “biased” and “hostile” especially since Dileep’s lawyers had made her uncomfortable with their questions. Taking into consideration the actress’ opinion about the trial court, the state government has supported her choice to change the court. The prosecution upheld her arguments and urged the High Court to grant their plea.
However, the HC dismissed the plea, stating that unless the trial court, the prosecutor work, and the defense are in sync, the justice system cannot work properly. Clarifying that they cannot continue with the current judge at the trial court, the state government had asked to extend the stay on the proceedings for one more week to get enough time to file an appeal. However, the High Court bench did not grant it. Following this, the Special Prosecutor A Suresan resigned. Later, the state government approached the Supreme Court with the same request, only for the apex court to uphold the HC's judgement.
