The Hindu : New Delhi News : Verdict reserved in Jessica case

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Thursday, Nov 30, 2006
ePaper

New Delhi

New Delhi

Verdict reserved in Jessica case

Staff Reporter

Counsel for the prosecution and the defense complete their arguments

Jessica Lal

NEW DELHI: The Delhi High Court on Wednesday reserved judgment in the Jessica Lal murder case.

A Division Bench comprising Justice R.S. Sodhi and Justice P.K. Bhasin reserved the judgment on conclusion of arguments by the prosecution and counsel for the accused on the appeal by the Delhi police against acquittal of all nine accused persons, including prime accused Manu Sharma, by a trial court here in February 2006.

Rebutting the submission by Ram Jethmalani, counsel for Manu Sharma, that a "tall Sikh'' had shot model Jessica Lal at the Tamarind court restaurant here in the early hours of April 30 in 1999, Additional Solicitor-General Gopal Subramaniam submitted that it was a baseless argument.

Stressing upon the prosecution version of the case, Mr. Subramaniam submitted that it was none other than Manu Sharma who had fired the two shots, one in the air and the other at Jessica Lal.

Mr. Jethmalani also submitted that Manu Sharma was not present in the party where Jessica was shot and she was not killed for her refusal to serve drinks to his client but for more strong reasons.

The prosecution case is that Manu Sharma shot Jessica Lal when the latter had refused to serve drinks to him saying that the bar was closed for the day.

While the defence's line of argument is that the Delhi police had framed Manu Sharma to protect someone, the prosecution sets great store by the evidence by Socialite Bina Ramani, her husband George Mailhot and their daughter Malini Ramani for conviction of the accused persons.

Written submission

Meanwhile, counsel for Vikas Yadav, K.N. Balagopal, informed the Court that he would file a written submission on its query whether Section 34 ( acts done by several persons in furtherance of common intention) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) applied to his client or not.

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

New Delhi