Kochi: The Kerala High Court on Monday heard a plea filed by the survivor in the 2017 actress assault case, seeking a fresh probe into alleged illegal access to a memory card that contained visuals linked to the incident.

The matter came up before Justice Jobin Sebastian. The court was hearing a writ petition in which the survivor has sought an investigation into claims that the memory card, which formed a key part of the trial evidence, was accessed without authorisation.

The bench noted that issues around the case had already been raised earlier in judicial proceedings. It referred to the fact that a direction had been issued in November 2019 in relation to aspects of the complaint and subsequent inquiry process.

During the hearing, the survivor’s counsel informed the court that the memory card and its contents had significant relevance to the trial and that concerns had been raised regarding how it was handled. It was also submitted that the issue had been placed before the court in earlier proceedings and an inquiry had been ordered at that stage.

The court asked for clarity on whether any challenge had been made on the administrative side and whether any departmental action had followed the earlier directions. It also sought details on whether any criminal proceedings had been initiated and what had happened after the earlier fact-finding exercise.

Questions on earlier proceedings and recusal

The bench further examined the procedural history, including whether the earlier inquiry report had been considered and whether any follow-up action had been taken by authorities. It also asked where the memory card was currently kept and how it had been handled after the trial.

As the hearing progressed, the court indicated that it would examine the matter in detail at a later stage. However, later in the day, Justice Jobin Sebastian recused from hearing the case. The recusal was recorded in view of his earlier role as Registrar (District Judiciary) at the time when a related complaint by the survivor’s side had been filed on the administrative side.

The case will now be placed before an appropriate bench for further hearing.