High Court of Kerala on Monday granted anticipatory bail to actor Dileep and four others in a case accusing them of threatening officials probing the 2017 actress assault and conspiring to eliminate them, saying presently there was no material to suggest criminal conspiracy or intimidation was committed by the accused.

While the prosecution's concerns — that the accused will influence and intimidate witnesses — are legitimate, Justice Gopinath P ruled that they can be addressed by setting suitable conditions, and if those requirements are broken, the court can be appealed for bail cancellation or arrest.

The judge also stated that it believes the investigation can be adequately done without the accused being in detention.

The court stated that if the accused are arrested in the case, they will be released on bail if they individually execute separate bonds for sums of Rs 1,00,000 with two solvent sureties for the same amount. The court, on the other hand, was of the opinion that the accused had done nothing to imply they had committed the offence of abetment as defined by section 116 of the IPC based on the facts of the case.

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