NEW DELHI, Aug 30:
The police today told the Delhi High Court that the testimony of Nitish Katara’s mother, accusing Vikas and Vishal Yadav for the murder of her son in 2002, was “spontaneous” and cannot be disbelieved.
“The statement, implicating the accused in the FIR, was spontaneous, immediate and proximate to the incident and hence cannot be disbelieved,” special public prosecutor Dayan Krishnan told a bench of Justices Gita Mittal and J R Midha.
Advancing final arguments, the prosecutor said Neelam Katara’ statements, given to police and later during the trial, were “self explanatory” and defence counsel also did not cross-examine her much on her assertion that Vikas and Vishal were averse to the relationship between the victim and their sister Bharti Yadav.
He also said the victim had told his mother that he was in a “relationship” with Bharti and was planning to marry her and the girl’s father, who was against it, may give his approval later.
“The statement (of Neelam) that her son had told her about his relationship and the fact that it was not approved by the accused… Is not a hearsay evidence and rather admissible as evidence,” the prosecutor said.
Sumeet Verma, counsel for Vikas, however opposed the plea saying “as per the Evidence Act, the statement that the victim told something to his mother, cannot be held credible piece of evidence as it is hearsay and not a direct evidence.”
Vikas and Vishal took away Nitish from a marriage party at Ghaziabad on the intervening night of February 16-17, 2002 and later killed him with the help of third accused Sukhdev Pehalwan.
Yadavs and Pehalwan are serving life term in the case.
The court then asked the prosecutor to file some case laws in support of his argument that the statement of the mother about the information given to her by the victim son can be held as “direct evidence”.
It then posted the matter for hearing on September 3.
Earlier, senior advocate Ram Jethmalani, appearing for Vishal, had wanted the court to reject the deposition of key witness Ajay Katara who had seen the victim alive last in the company of the accused.
Vikas and Vishal were convicted by the trial court in 2008 for abducting and murdering Nitish Katara, son of an IAS officer.
The duo along with their accomplice Pehlwan, who absconded for some time but was arrested in 2005 and was tried separately, were sentenced to life term by the trial court. (PTI)
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