The Kerala High Court on Monday admitted the appeal filed by the state government seeking enhancement of punishment for the convicts and challenging the acquittal of actor Dileep and others in the 2017 actress assault case.

Apart from Dileep, who was accused number 8, the state has also challenged the acquittals of accused numbers 7, Charly Thomas, (A9) Sanilkumar alias Mesthiri Sanil and (A15) Sarath G Nair, for criminal conspiracy to commit the crime.

The Division Bench of Justice Raja Vijayaraghavan V and Justice K V Jayakumar is also hearing appeals filed by the convicts, which were admitted earlier, challenging their convictions and sentences.

When the matter came up today, the court noted that Advocate V Ajakumar has been appointed as the Special Public Prosecutor to argue the case on behalf of the state. He had earlier argued the case before the trial court as well. The court then called for the trial court records and posted the matter after two weeks to hear the sentence suspension petitions filed by the convicts, including Pulsar Suni.

In December, the Principal District and Sessions Court, Ernakulam, had sentenced six accused, including the prime accused Sunil N S alias Pulsar Suni, to 20 years of imprisonment. The court had acquitted Dileep, who was accused of orchestrating the crime, holding that the prosecution failed to prove conspiracy against him.

Pulsar Suni (A1), Martin Antony (A2), B Manikandan (A3), V P Vijeesh (A4), H Saleem (A5), and C Pradeep (A6) were convicted of rape, conspiracy, abduction, and other offences.