Kerala High Court Judge Justice Jobin Sebastian on Monday recused himself from hearing a petition filed by the survivor in the 2017 actress assault case, which seeks a fresh and thorough investigation by a Special Investigation Team (SIT) into alleged unauthorised access to the memory card containing visuals related to the assault.
When the matter came up for admission, the court examined whether any prior complaints had been pursued on the administrative side regarding the alleged access to the memory card. The judge sought clarification from the survivor’s counsel on whether any departmental inquiry, disciplinary action, or criminal proceedings had been initiated against those accused of accessing the device.
He also referred to an earlier writ petition filed in 2022 raising similar allegations and questioned the status and outcome of those proceedings. The court sought details on the earlier order, the fact-finding inquiry directed by the court, and whether the report had been placed before the concerned judge and acted upon for initiating administrative action.
The matter was briefly passed over after the court noted that it required detailed consideration. However, Justice Sebastian later recused himself from hearing the case, observing that he had previously held charge as Registrar (District Judiciary) when a related complaint was filed on the administrative side by the survivor’s former counsel.
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The survivor had earlier approached the High Court in 2022, following which the court in December 2023 disposed of the plea and directed the Ernakulam District and Sessions Judge to conduct a fact-finding inquiry into the allegations. In the present petition, the survivor has challenged the findings of that inquiry.
The petition also seeks the constitution of an SIT comprising at least one cyber or digital forensics expert to conduct a time-bound, fair and comprehensive investigation into the alleged unauthorised access to the memory card, which is a key piece of evidence in the case.
The 2017 case relates to the abduction and sexual assault of an actress inside a moving vehicle near Kochi on February 17, 2017. The incident was allegedly recorded on video, and the footage was later copied onto a memory card produced before the Judicial First Class Magistrate Court in Aluva by one of the accused, who was later discharged.
Last year, the trial court acquitted actor Dileep, one of the accused, while convicting six others.
