New Delhi   

Court orders probe into two more cases

Staff Reporter

In both, the accused were acquitted due to alleged manipulations

NEW DELHI: The Delhi High Court on Thursday directed the Special Investigation Team of the Delhi police probing charges of tampering of evidence and winning over prosecution witnesses in the Jessica Lal murder case to further investigate two similar cases in which the accused were acquitted due to alleged manipulations at the investigation stage.

A Division Bench of the Court headed by Justice R.S. Sodhi issued the direction following submission of a report by the city police saying that in one of the cases the weapon of offence recovered was different from the one used in the crime while in the other the forensic laboratory refused to give any opinion on the firearm used.

Anonymous letter

Taking note of an anonymous letter drawing the attention of the Court to acquittal of the accused in three cases on the lines of the Jessica Lal murder case, the Court had on April 23 asked the Special Investigation Team to investigate the charges and file a report to it.

The police in their report further informed the Court that of the three cases referred to in the letter, the accused were acquitted in two of the cases while they were convicted in the third case.

The Bench further directed the Special Investigation Team to investigate all such cases where the accused were let off the hook due to alleged connivance among the investigators, advocates and the courts.

The Bench asked the Special Investigation Team to file a status report on the progress of investigation on July 9.

The letter referred to three murder cases involving people belonging to well-off families who were acquitted due to contradictions between the evidence of eyewitnesses in the cases and forensic opinions on the use of firearms.

The letter further said that in all three cases the ballistic expert was the same person -- Roop Singh of the Rajasthan Forensic Laboratory -- who had expressed his inability to give any opinion on the cartridges used in the murder of ramp model Jessica Lal in the absence of the firearm used.

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

Stories in this Section

Changing equations in Delhi Congress?
Delhi Jal Board's largesse lands it in a financial mess
Demolition victims demand justice
Court orders probe into two more cases
Voice of the voiceless
A Delhi landmark turns 60
BJP seeks funds for Delhi's villages
Engineers convert knowledge into wealth: Khanna
Polluting units get a kick
Held for drug trafficking
`Budget session satisfying'
Up in arms
Deadly haul at Dilli Haat
Triple murder case solved
War against water privatisation
Around the City
Briefly
In the Capital Today

Copyright © 2007, The Hindu. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu