Accused in 1999 murder case pulled up for delaying trial
New Delhi: Pulling up an accused's 85-year-old counsel for not being present in court through video conferencing and seeking adjournment of a murder case from 1999 on account of his injury, a Delhi court on Monday said that it "cannot be brow beaten by such tactics" adopted by any accused person.
This comes a week after a Delhi court dismissed the same lawyer's plea seeking transfer of his case due to alleged bias of the trial court judge against his client and on account of the "inhuman" proceedings" that went past 5 pm.
On Monday, the lawyer for the accused, SPS Chaudhary, moved an application before Special Judge Pulastya Pramachala, passed on to the court through his client Harmesh Kumar stating that he had, "fallen down on March 31 and received injury on his forehead and other parts of the body". He added that he was Treated in Metro Hospital but his stitches have not been removed yet.
Seeking a 15-day adjournment, Chaudhary further stated that he cannot participate in the proceedings through video conferencing as he does not have the facilities for the same at his house. The counsel said that keeping in view his age and the fact that he is hard of hearing, "it is not desirable and proper to record the evidence with the help of video conferencing".
His client, Harmesh Kumar, told the court that he did not know what was written in the application and that it was not well explained in Hindi to him by his counsel.
The court, noting that it was the third consecutive hearing when the counsel had refused to participate in the proceedings, said that it has been a routine prayer on his part to seek a 15-day adjournment. The court said, "I do not find any fruitful future of the given grounds for seeking adjournment even after 15 days. I have already noted and informed all that this is the oldest case in the court and the court is duty-bound to act expeditiously."
Noting that the accused hired a different set of lawyers while moving a plea seeking transfer before the Sessions Judge of the Rouse Avenue Court, the court observed that he is "taking services of different lawyers as per his convenience and suitability of the case, but repeated request for adjournment being made on his behalf in this proceeding goes on to show that he is adamant to only delay the present proceedings, on the pretext of old age of his counsel".
The murder case pertains to one Daulat Ram whose body was found in a burnt condition inside a vehicle in Ghaziabad in 1999. One Mohinder Pal has already been convicted in the case while three others, Bansi Lal, municipal councillor of Geeta Colony at the time, Harish and Harmesh are facing trial in the case.
