The Supreme Court on Tuesday (August 27) sought information from the State of Kerala regarding the number of witnesses remaining to be examined in the actress sexual assault case.

A bench of Justices Abhay S Oka and Augustine George Masih asked the State's counsel to seek instructions on this aspect while considering the bail application of prime accused Sunil NS, also known as Pulsar Suni. Prominent Malayalam actor Dileep is charged in the case as a conspirator behind the abduction and sexual assault of the actress in a moving vehicle in the outskirts of Kochi in February 2017.

The counsel for Pulsar Suni, Advocate Sriram Parakkat, told the bench that the counsel for Dileep has been examining one Prosecution Witness (PW-261) for the past 95 days.

Justice Oka at this point asked the State, "seven years he(Pulsar Suni) is in custody. What is the progress in trial?".

The bench allowed two weeks time to the State's counsel to get instructions. The State has also been asked to place on record a copy of the deposition of the said Prosecution Witness within 2 weeks.

The Apex Court has been monitoring the progress of the trial, receiving status reports from the trial judge from time to time.

On 08.05.2023, the Apex Court while taking note of the report sent by the Trial Judge, had directed that the trial be completed by 31.07.2023.

In August 2023, the Supreme Court had extended the deadline to March 31, 2024.

Case Title : SUNIL N S v.THE STATE OF KERALA | SLP(Crl) No. 11147/2024