Thiruvananthapuram: Kerala High Court on Monday granted anticipatory bail to Malayalam actor Dileep and other accused in the case of allegedly threatening the investigation officials probing the 2017 Actress Assault Case.

The High Court heard the prosecution’s argument for nearly three weeks against granting anticipatory bail to actor Dileep in a case of threatening officials investigating the woman actor sexual assault case. 

Dileep, named among the 10 accused in the the alleged abduction and sexual assault of a woman actor in Kochi in February 2017. The actor  has been charged with offences such as criminal conspiracy, wrongful confinement, assaulting a woman with intent to outrage her modesty, and punishment for transmitting obscene material in electronic form under the IT Act, among others.

The case also shot into media limelight after two government pleaders resigned in the last 14 months alleging “hostile attitude” of the trial court in Kochi.

Both the prosecution and the rape victim, too, had approached the Kerala high court in 2020 to remove trail court judge Honey M Varghese, although their plea was rejected.

On 10 July 2017, Dileep was arrested by the Kerala Police for alleged conspiracy and was remanded by the court. Following his arrest, Dileep's membership was revoked by various film organisations.

Several political parties protested against Dileep and his business firms were vandalized, including Dhe Puttu restaurant and the multiplex theatre D Cinemas. On 3 October 2017, he was released on conditional bail by the Kerala High Court.

 In June 2018, he filed a petition in the Kerala High Court charging the Kerala Police of deliberately framing him. He requested the case be handed over to the Central Bureau of Investigation.