The Supreme Court on Monday asked a Kerala trial court to finish hearings of the sexual assault case against Malayalam actor Dileep by January 31, Live Law reported. The court also told the trial judge to file a status report on the case within four weeks.

Trial judge Honey M Varghese had approached the Supreme Court seeking more time to complete the proceedings, according to Mathrubhumi. Dileep had also filed an application seeking that the trial should be completed within a fixed time frame.

The complainant, who is also an actor, has alleged that she was kidnapped and sexually abused inside her car for two hours on February 17, 2017. There are 10 accused persons in the case and initially, the police had arrested seven people. Dileep was also arrested subsequently but later released on bail.

The woman has filed a petition before the Kerala High Court accusing trial judge Varghese of “serious misconduct” and alleged that she had an “agenda to save the culprits”.

She alleged that the judge had sought a forensic report about a memory card of an accused person in the case, but did not inform the prosecution that she had sought such a report.

The complainant said that she suspects that Dileep may have used his contacts in the government to ensure that the investigation is not completed.

“...It is reliably learned that the prosecution as well as the investigation agency are now threatened by the political higher-ups to end the investigation halfway and file the additional final report in a half-cooked manner,” her petition stated. “This clearly establishes the illegal nexus between the accused and the ruling front.”

The complainant said that the Kerala government had initially supported her case and took credit for the investigation, but has now backtracked from its legal commitment.