Tanya Gupta
Published on: March 11, 2022 at 20:33 IST
In the 2017 Sexual Assault Case involving Actor Dileep, the Supreme Court on Wednesday Granted Bail to Driver Martin Antony, a Co-Accused who has been Behind Bars for 5 Years.
A Divisional Bench comprising Justices Ajay Rastogi and Abhay S Oka noted that the Petitioner has been in Jail for 5 Years while all other Accused were released on Post-Arrest Bail.
The Bench issued this direction in a Special Leave Petition filed before Kerala High Court challenging its Order of Refusing to Grant Bail to Antony. The Bail so rejected was the 13th Regular Bail Application.
Advocate Alex Joseph on behalf of Petitioner contested that the Driver was Employed on an Ad-Hoc basis.
The Petitioner has been Accused of committing Offences Under Sections 120B, 201, 212, 342, 366, 376(D) & 506(i) read with Section 34 of the Indian Penal Code and Under Sections 66E & 67A of the Information Technology (Amendment) Act, 2008.
In the Observation of Petition, the High Court did not look into Evidence of Relevant Witnesses, even that Victim showing the Innocence of the Petitioner. The Court only observed that ‘the Allegation against the Petitioner is Very Serious and Grave’ in Nature thus Dismissing his Bail Application.
About the Case
In 2017, A Well-Known Actress was Abducted and Raped in a Moving Vehicle following a Conspiracy that was Allegedly plotted by Dileep. At present, he is Undergoing a Trial before the Special Judge of the Central Bureau of Investigation.
A Film Director Balachandrakumar made appalling Disclosures which Revealed some Fresh Allegations against him. Owing to this, the Case was again Highlighted in 2022.
The Actor filed an Appeal seeking to haul in further Investigations into the 2017 Sexual Assault Case, which was dismissed by Kerala High Court in March 2022.
According to the Actor, the Case is a ‘Deliberate and Calculated Attempt’ of the Prosecution with a Motive of Sabotaging his Trial before the Special Central Bureau of Investigation Court.