The Saket District Court has dismissed the plea of Aftab Amin Poonawala, accused in the Shraddha Walkar murder case, who sought to have his trial held only twice a month to give his counsel adequate time to prepare his defense. The court determined that Poonawala was attempting to deliberately delay the trial.
Special Fast Track Court Judge Manish Khurana Kakkar dismissed Poonawala’s plea.
“It appears that since substantial witnesses have been examined and material witnesses are yet to be examined after filing the supplementary challan along with the witnesses cited in the main charge sheet, the accused is trying to deliberately delay the trial,” the Special Court stated.
The court noted that the defense counsel had failed to appear on dates fixed for his convenience for the cross-examination of witnesses, and several witnesses remain to be cross-examined by the accused. Additionally, only 134 out of 212 prosecution witnesses have been examined since June 2023, necessitating consecutive dates to expedite the trial.
Vikas Walkar, father of Shraddha Walkar, has applied for the release of her bones so that her last rites may be performed. The court acknowledged, “Moreover, the right of the accused to a fair trial cannot be allowed to completely trump the right of the victim to a dignified cremation as well as the right of the surviving heir of the deceased to cremate the body of the deceased with dignity and respect.”
The court noted that the bones of the deceased have not been released to her father, who has consistently appeared physically or virtually, requesting their release for cremation. “In fact, this right cannot be completely thwarted by slackening the pace of trial at the whims and fancy of the accused, who has been adequately accommodated on each date of hearing to prepare his defense and to cross-examine the witnesses,” the court emphasized.
In response to the father’s application, the accused stated he had no objection to the release of the bones, as the alleged bones and body parts have already been exhibited. However, the court ruled, “The case property cannot be released at this stage as many police witnesses involved in the recovery of the bones are yet to be examined. The case property is needed for identification and exhibition by the police witnesses. Therefore, the application of the father of the deceased cannot be allowed to that extent.”
The court concluded, “However, considering the father’s right to cremate the bones of his deceased daughter, the matter shall be taken up expeditiously on consecutive dates each month to conclude the prosecution evidence, after which at least some part of the bones may be released for cremation, at the appropriate stage of proceedings.”
Special Public Prosecutor (SPP) Amit Prasad did not oppose an expeditious trial. He emphasized that consecutive dates are necessary for the completion of the examination of prosecution witnesses, noting that there are around 182 witnesses in the main charge-sheet and approximately 30 in the supplementary challan, totaling over 212 witnesses. He argued that the defense counsel had previously requested dates for the cross-examination of witnesses but failed to appear, intending to delay the trial.
The accused’s application noted that the trial is at the stage of Prosecution Evidence, with 6-7 block dates per month fixed since October 2023. It was also stated that more than 125 witnesses have been examined, and crucial witnesses such as investigating officers, public witnesses, and FSL witnesses remain to be examined, requiring the main counsel’s presence for their examination in chief.
