By Sohini Ghosh
After a surprise disclosure by a head constable, implicating a man as an accused in the Northeast Delhi 2020 riots for the first time in court deposition — five years after the incident — a trial court last month had refused to allow the accused time to cross-examine the witness. Now, the Delhi High Court has overturned the trial court’s order.
The HC reiterated that speedy trial “cannot be at the cost of fairness of the trial since that would be against all canons of justice”. “We must not delude ourselves into believing that the purpose of expeditious trial would be served by denying to an accused a fair and reasonable opportunity to cross-examine a prosecution witness on a critical issue,” Justice Anup Bhambhani held in an order on February 13.
The accused, Mohd Danish, had moved the High Court seeking a direction to the trial court to recall a prosecution witness in the case — head constable Shashikant — for cross-examination.
Danish, in his plea, submitted that in relation to the rioting incident of February 24, 2020, head constable Shashikant had not named or identified him in his June 1, 2020, statement recorded under CrPC Section 161; he only identified Danish as an accused in the course of his court deposition recorded on January 24 this year.
Since Danish was not identified earlier, the senior lawyer representing him before the trial court, was not present on the day; thus, Shashikant was not cross-examined. When the junior counsel representing Danish had sought time from the trial court to cross-examine Shashikant, the request was rejected.
This story was originally published in indianexpress.com. Read the full story here.
