Kerala actor rape case: High Court judge recuses from survivor’s plea on memory card access probe

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The petition will now be placed before the Chief Justice of the Kerala High Court to allocate the case to an appropriate Bench. | Photo Credit: R.K.. Nithin

A Single Bench of Justice Jobin Sebastian of the Kerala High Court on Monday (June 8, 2026) recused itself from considering the petition filed by the survivor in the Kerala actor rape case, which sought to quash the Ernakulam District and Sessions Judge’s inquiry report into the alleged unauthorised access of the crucial memory card, which contained videos of the crime.

The judge reasoned that he had served as the Registrar of the District Judiciary when the survivor filed an administrative complaint regarding unauthorised access to a memory card while in judicial custody during the trial proceedings. The petition will now be placed before the Chief Justice of the Kerala High Court to allocate her case to an appropriate bench.

The survivor had sought a petition by a special investigation team (SIT) into the alleged unauthorised access to the memory card and to order a fair and comprehensive investigation into the matter.

She also revealed that in the disputed inquiry report, the memory card was accessed thrice, and had moved the court to issue directions to involve a cyber/digital forensics expert in the SIT and to send the evidence for an independent scientific analysis regarding the occurrences of illegal access and the possibility of transfer and transmission of its contents.