Sexual assault case: Supreme Court upholds verdict acquitting former minister Neelalohithadasan Nadar

NEW DELHI: Relief for former minister Neelalohithadasan Nadar in the sexual assault case. The Supreme Court has upheld the High Court verdict that acquitted Neelalohithadasan. The important verdict in favour of the former minister comes after years of legal battle.

A sexual assault case was registered against Neelalohithadasan Nadar based on a complaint filed by a former forest department official during the Nayanar government. This incident, which sparked major political controversies at the time, even led to his loss of ministerial position.

At the beginning of the case, the Kozhikode trial court had found Neelalohithadasan Nadar guilty and sentenced him to one year in prison. However, in the appeal filed against this judgment, the High Court Division Bench acquitted him and set aside the verdict. The complainant approached the Supreme Court to challenge the High Court's judgment.

After examining the facts of the case in detail, the Supreme Court observed that there was no need to interfere with the High Court's verdict and dismissed the petition of the complainant. The court pointed out three main points for dismissing the petition. The court observed that the delay in filing the complaint would affect the credibility. Secondly, the court examined the contradictions in the statements of the complainant. The court found that there were obvious contradictions between the statement given before the magistrate and the statement given to the investigating officers.

Senior advocate Rebecca John, who appeared for the complainant, had contended during the argument that Neelalohithadasan Nadar was a serial offender. She also brought to the court's attention that there were some other similar complaints against him. However, the Supreme Court made it clear that such remarks cannot be allowed, since Neelalohithadasan Nadar was acquitted in this case. The court then dismissed the appeal filed by the complainant and issued a final judgment.