The Kerala government on Friday moved the Kerala High Court challenging the acquittal of actor Dileep and three others — Charly Thomas, Sanilkumar and Sarath G Nair — in the 2017 actor assault case. It seeks the conviction of the acquitted accused and maximum punishment for the convicted persons, including first accused Sunil NS alias Pulsar Suni.

In its appeal, the state described Dileep as the “master conspirator” and argued that the evidence on record establishes “beyond any shadow of doubt” that he had given the quotation to sexually assault the survivor. It contended that the Sessions Court adopted a flawed approach by examining key evidence in isolation rather than as part of a continuous chain pointing to a larger conspiracy.

The government further argued that while conspiracy-related evidence was relied upon to convict the first six accused, the same standard was not applied to Dileep. It said the trial court overlooked the alleged primary conspiracy between Dileep and Pulsar Suni, while ignoring clear evidence of motive.

Terming the punishment awarded to the convicted accused as “highly disproportionate and inadequate,” the state pointed out that only the minimum sentence was imposed for the gang rape charge and that appropriate punishment was not awarded for certain other offences despite conviction.