The female actor, who survived the 2017 abduction and sexual assault, filed a complaint to the Bar Council of Kerala against the lawyers of actor Dileep, with allegations of professional misconduct.
Actor Dileep stands as the chief conspirator in the 2017 assault case and is currently facing trial for it. On January 9, 2022, the Kerala Crime Branch filed a new FIR against the actor and his associates, for plotting to murder the officers who investigated the assault case. The FIR was registered following the release of audio clips implicating the accused by filmmaker Balachandra Kumar.
Moreover, the survivor’s complaint alleged that Senior Advocate B Raman Pillai and two junior lawyers Advocates Philip T Varghese and Sujesh Menon, who have been representing Dileep, had attempted to influence 20 prosecution witnesses in the case, who later turned hostile during the trial. Alleging the lawyers of illegal and unethical conduct, she urged the council to take necessary actions against them.
The survivor further claimed that the incriminating data on mobile phones of the accused were destroyed at Pillai’s office, after the HC directed them to submit the phones in the registry. It was argued that Pillai reportedly went to the private forensic lab in Mumbai and was involved in destroying the data on the mobile phones.
As per the complaint, she went on to contend that Pillai had offered Rs 25 lakhs and five cents of land to a key prosecution witness in the case in order to influence him through an agent. She noted that the crime branch has registered a case against him in the matter, also issueing a notice for interrogation.
However, the senior advocate has not appeared for the probe. Instead, he went on to convince the Bar Association to issue a statement in his defence.
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Pointing out to media reports, the survivor also said that filmmaker Balachandrakumar had released an audio clip that accused Advocate Varghese of paying Rs 5 lakhs to a prime witness in the case, to turn hostile for the trial. The lawyer is said to have personally visited the witness, for the same.
On Wednesday, the Bar Council asked the survivor to submit a proper complaint, after rectifying all the defects in it. The reply statement was enclosed with a copy of the rules and procedures that needed to be followed, while filing a complaint against an advocate.
For a full timeline of the female actor abduction and assault case, see here.