On
Tuesday, August 27, the Supreme Court asked the Kerala government for details
on the number of witnesses still to be examined in the ongoing actress sexual
assault trial.
A
bench of Justices Abhay S Oka and Augustine George Masih directed the State's
counsel to gather this information while reviewing the bail plea of the main
accused, Sunil NS, also known as Pulsar Suni. Notably, Malayalam actor Dileep
is also implicated in the case, accused of orchestrating the abduction and
sexual assault of the actress in a moving vehicle near Kochi in February 2017.
Pulsar
Suni's lawyer, Advocate Sreeram Parakkat, informed the court that Dileep's
counsel had been cross-examining one Prosecution Witness (PW-261) for the past
95 days.
Justice
Oka questioned the State, asking, "He (Pulsar Suni) has been in custody
for seven years. What progress has been made in the trial?"
The
bench granted the State two weeks to gather instructions and submit a copy of
the Prosecution Witness's deposition.
The
Supreme Court has been monitoring the trial's progress, receiving periodic
status reports from the trial judge.
On
May 8, 2023, after reviewing a report from the trial judge, the Supreme Court
ordered the trial to be completed by July 31, 2023.
In
August 2023, the Court extended the deadline for completing the trial to March
31, 2024.
