HC issues bailable warrants against accused in Jessica case

New Delhi, Mar 22 (UNI) Admitting the appeal of the Delhi Police against the acquittal in the Jessica Lal murder case, the Delhi High Court today issued bailable warrants against prime accused Manu Sharma, son of Haryana minister Vinod Sharma, Vikas Yadav, son of former Rajya Sabha MP D P Yadav and seven other accused.

A division bench of Justice Manmohan Sarin and Justice Manju Goel directed the accused not to leave the country without permission and asked them to appear before it on April 18.

The court asked Manu to furnish a bond of Rs one lakh and the other accused a bond of Rs 50,000 each for their release on bail.

The bailable warrants were issued after Additional Solicitor General Gopal Subramaniam and State Counsel Mukta Gupta sought non-bailable warrants against those acquitted in the case on the grounds that one of the accused had been in the United States since 1999 and others may follow. The Delhi Police had challenged acquittal of the nine accused on February 21 by the then Additional Sessions Judge S L Bhayana due to 'shoddy trial' and lack of clinching evidence.

The appeal cited 92 grounds on which the prosecution sought to assail the judgement delivered by the trial judge.

When Mr Subramanium submitted that the Judge had written the judgement in two hours, the Court said it was not a plausible ground.

''When you have so many other grounds, why are you pressing for it,'' the court said.

Refuting the two bullets theory of the Central Forensic Science Laboratory (CFSL) report, the petition said, ''The trial court grossly erred in holding the prosecution version that one accused had fired two shots from one pistol.'' The medical evidence shows that one gunshot injury, the entry wound, which is corroborated by the forensic expert, has not been challenged even in the cross examination by the accused, Ms Gupta said in the petition.

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