NEW DELHI, Feb 24: A Delhi court on Friday fixed March 7 for hearing arguments on charges against Aaftab Amin Poonawala, accused of strangling his live-in partner Shraddha Walkar and chopping her body into pieces, a sensational murder that triggered widespread shock and outrage.
Additional Sessions Judge Manisha Khurana Kakkar fixed the date for the hearing on charges after Poonawala was produced physically before the court.
Earlier, Principal District and Sessions Judge Narottam Kaushal assigned the case to the court of ASJ Kakkar.
During the proceedings, another advocate also appeared for Poonawala as his legal aid counsel, following which the accused’s private advocate M S Khan raised objections.
Khan said a legal aid counsel cannot be appointed when Poonawala had already engaged a private lawyer. Besides, the accused did not request or express any desire for a defence lawyer from the government, he said.
Khan informed the court he was representing Poonawala and will withdraw his ‘vakalatnama’ if another private advocate appeared for the accused.
A magisterial court had committed the case to sessions court on February 21 and directed Poonawala to be produced there.
According to the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC), a case pertaining to heinous offences is remanded to the jurisdictional sessions court by the Metropolitan Magistrate concerned after filing of the charge sheet.
The magisterial court had also directed Poonawala to file an application before the sessions court concerned regarding his request to carry a law book, a religious text, a notebook and a pen during the proceedings.
On February 7, the court had taken cognisance of the voluminous 6,629-page charge sheet filed by police on January 24.
Delhi Police filed the charge sheet under sections 302 (murder) and 201 (causing disappearance of evidence of offence, or giving false information to screen offender) of the Indian Penal Code.
Poonawala (28) allegedly throttled Walkar (27) on May 18, 2022, sawed her body into pieces and kept them in a 300-litre fridge at their rented house. He disposed of the body parts over several nights.
The brutal murder came to light nearly six months after Walkar was killed allegedly during a heated argument with Poonawala when her father lodged a missing persons complaint after learning from her friends that they were unable to contact her for over two-and-a-half months.
Poonawala was arrested by the Delhi Police on November 12. (PTI)
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