Uttrakhand’s Kotdwar court has recently turned down an application by the prosecution in the Ankita Bhandari murder case seeking the inclusion of the criminal conspiracy charge against the accused.
The court of Additional District and Sessions Judge Rina Negi rejected the application on the grounds that there is no justification for adding IPC section 120B (criminal conspiracy) as it was part of the case earlier but was dropped subsequently.
The court stated that, once the section has been dropped, adding it again is not justified.
The petition was filed by the prosecution’s counsel, Avneesh Negi. The court deliberated on this matter on August 17 but reserved its verdict at that time.
Simultaneously, Amit Sajwan, the defense attorney, recused himself from representing the accused in court, citing personal grounds.
Ankita Bhandari, a receptionist employed at a resort near Rishikesh, met her unfortunate demise last September. Allegedly, the resort’s proprietor, Pulkit Arya, who is the progeny of former BJP leader Vinod Arya, along with two other staff members, stands accused of her murder.
Preliminary investigations disclosed that the accused purportedly pushed her into the Chilla barrage, resulting in her death. This dreadful incident occurred as she refused to give in to their pressure to provide supplementary services to an esteemed VIP guest expected at the resort.
The accused in the case have been in jail for nearly a year.
