KOCHI: The high court on Tuesday dismissed actor Dileep's plea for quashing the further investigation in actress assault case on the basis of film director Balachandra Kumar's statement revealing alleged conspiracy to kill the investigating officers.
Allowing the further investigation by crime branch to continue, Justice Kauser Edappagath said the revelations made by the film director and the supporting materials furnished by him, if found to be true, may have a bearing in the case. At this stage, the high court cannot examine the correctness or otherwise of the revelations, the court said.
Police have the right and duty to conduct an enquiry if fresh information pertaining to a crime is received after filing the final report and such power cannot be circumscribed without any reason, it added.
The petitioner could not establish that the further probe is frivolous, vexatious, maliciously initiated with an ulterior motive for wreaking vengeance on the accused, is barred by any law, or is an abuse of power, the court held.
However, the court directed for completing the further probe by April 15 after noting that two months has passed since the probe began, on January 1.
While dismissing Dileep's plea, the court also said that it has not made any findings or observations regarding the veracity, truthfulness, or reliability of the disclosures made by the film director.
'Phones tampered with'
Meanwhile, the crime branch team has informed the high court that the phones surrendered by Dileep and other accused have been tampered with. The manipulations, which resulted in several critical information being unavailable to the probe team, were done after the court issued an order on January 29 for surrendering the phones, the court was told. Four phones, including an iPhone that was being used by Dileep, were sent to a Mumbai-based firm and a team of lawyers had gone to the firm, crime branch has contended.
