The Supreme Court has rejected the bail plea filed by Pulsar Suni, the prime accused in the 2017 actress assault case that shocked Kerala.

The apex court said that bail cannot be granted to Suni as he has participated in the crime directly. The plea was heard by a bench headed by Justice Ajay Rastogi.

The Kerala government told the top court that the trial in the case is scheduled to conclude by the end of this year. The Supreme Court then said the accused can approach it for bail again if the trail doesn't end by the stipulated time period.

Suni moved the apex court for bail saying that he is the lone accused still in remand and the trial is likely to be delayed further.

Suni has been remanded ever since February 23, 2017, the day on which he was arrested. The crime took place on February 17, 2017.
Suni moved the apex court after it granted bail to the second accused Martin citing the delay in completing the trial. Suni approached the apex court after the high court rejected his bail plea.

The actress-victim, who has worked in Tamil, Telugu and Malayalam films, was abducted and allegedly molested in her car for two hours by some of the accused, who had forced their way into the vehicle on the night of February 17, 2017 and later escaped in a busy area. The entire act was filmed by some of the accused to blackmail the actress. There are 10 accused in the case. Malayalam actor Dileep, the eight accused in the case, was also arrested and sent to jail. He was released after the court granted him bail.

Recently, former DGP (Prisons) R Sreelekha stirred up a controversy as she alleged that the investigation team in the actor assault case of 2017 lacks enough evidence against actor Dileep.

Sreelekha, who had retired as Director General of Police (Prisons), made many revelations through her YouTube channel which many, including Leader of Opposition V D Satheesan, had termed as shocking.

In the 75th episode of her 'Sasneham Sreelekha' programme through her YouTube channel, the retired police officer said she was sharing the reasons why she considered Malayalam actor Dileep as innocent in the crime he was accused of.

The retired IPS officer also claimed that many other actors have told her about Suni, who had earned their trust and later abducted them, sexually assaulted them and took pictures on the mobile phone camera.

The Kerala police on Tuesday launched a preliminary investigation into a complaint filed against Sreelekha, alleging that she failed to act against Suni, despite being aware of his criminal antecedents.