The Hindu : Front Page : Police to take up `unexplored' aspects

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Monday, Mar 06, 2006

Front Page

Front Page

Police to take up `unexplored' aspects

Devesh K. Pandey

Jessica Lal case appeal likely to be filed in High Court this week

NEW DELHI: The Delhi police are planning to identify and punish those guilty of having tampered with the most crucial piece of evidence -- the two empty cartridges recovered from the scene of crime -- during the probe into the sensational murder of ramp-model Jessica Lal. It is now learnt that they would incorporate this point in their appeal against acquittal of the nine accused in the case.

Apart from the "unexplored'' and "untouched'' but important aspects of the case from the prosecution's perspective, it is learnt that the appeal would comprise inquiries conducted into the alleged replacement of the empty cartridges recovered from the Tamarind Court restaurant by the investigating team soon after Jessica was shot. It would also include the inquiry conducted by K.K. Paul in his capacity as the then Joint Commissioner of Police (Crime Branch) in 2001, which found that the evidence in question had been tampered with as a result of a conspiracy between the accused and certain officials.

There is a possibility that the court would ask the police reasons for the delay in investigating the tampering of evidence. "The police cannot deny this fact that there was a long delay in this regard, but they can still make this point in the appeal. After all, the purpose of the entire exercise would be to search for all the plausible aspects of the case in a bid to bring the real culprits to justice," said a lawyer.

The appeal would largely be based on important pieces of circumstantial evidence put forth by the prosecution that it thinks were not taken into consideration during the trail. For instance, though the three eyewitnesses in the case, including the complainant, were declared hostile during the trail, all of them had admitted in the court that they were present at the place where Jessica's was shot. Depositions by other witnesses thought to be positive for the prosecution's case would also be included.

The conduct of all the accused after Jessica's murder, raising strong suspicion about their involvement, might also be made a part of circumstantial evidence. These points, the police feel were not considered strong enough to counter the defence counsel's argument appreciating full cooperation of the accused to the police.

Besides the circumstantial evidence, the police would submit their arguments against the controversial two-weapon theory -- as established by the forensic report -- which had dealt a heavy blow to the prosecution's case. While during the trail they did not mention in the court about the suspected tampering of the empty cartridges that resulted in a "faulty" forensic report, this time round the police would explore the post-mortem report in detail along with the relevant findings of the probe to counter the two-weapon theory.

While the police hope to get positive results, experts feel it would be entirely up to the High Court to decide if the appeal stands or whether there should be a retrial or reinvestigation in the matter, in the wake of lapses on the part of the police, if any.

The police are planning to go in appeal in the High Court against the acquittal this week itself.

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail