The Hindu : New Delhi News : Day-to-day hearing in Mattoo murder case

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Friday, Sep 01, 2006

New Delhi

New Delhi

Day-to-day hearing in Mattoo murder case

Staff Reporter

CBI pulled up for leaving loopholes in probe

NEW DELHI: The Delhi High Court on Thursday said it would hear on a day-to-day basis an appeal against acquittal of Santosh Kumar Singh, son of a retired Delhi police officer, in the Priyadarshini Mattoo murder case.

A Division Bench of the Court comprising Justice R.S. Sodhi and Justice P. K. Bhasin said it would hear the appeal on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays to conclude the matter speedily.

The Bench also pulled up the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) for leaving loopholes in the investigation to facilitate acquittal of the accused.

However, Additional Solicitor-General Gopal Subramaniam submitted before the Court that the investigating agency had enough material for conviction of the accused in the case.

He further submitted that though the trial court had cited 14 reasons for acquitting the accused in the case, the CBI had consistent and tangible evidence with it to get the accused convicted.

The Court took up the appeal for an out-of-turn hearing on an application filed by the father of the victim.

A Delhi court had in December 1999 acquitted the accused. Priyadarshini Mattoo, a law student at the Campus Law Centre of DU, was raped and then strangulated to death on the evening of January 23, 1996, at her residence in Vasant Kunj in South Delhi.

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