Jessica Lall murder case: HC discharges 17 witnesses of perjury charge

NEW DELHI: The Delhi High Court today discharged 17 witnesses of the charges of turning hostile during the trial in Jessica Lall murder case saying "no prima facie" case has been made out against them for initiation of perjury proceedings.

A bench of justices S Ravindra Bhat and G P Mittal absolved several out of the 17 witnesses holding "they had not resiled from a sworn testimony".

"This Court, consistent with the approach adopted in the case of other applications, is of the opinion that despite the minor contradictions elicited during the prosecution's cross examination of the witness, no prima facie case has been made out for action under Section 340 CrPC. The notice to this respondent is accordingly discharged...," the bench said.

"However, the fact remains that the witness/noticee did not contradict, or resile from a sworn testimony in respect to a material fact," the bench said while discharging Babu Lal, a security agency's employee who was deployed in the farm house of convict Manu Sharma's father Venod Sharma.

The bench absolved the witnesses, including socialite Andleeb Sehgal and electrician Shiv Shankar Dass.

Besides them, other witnesses who have been discharged by the court are Manoj Kumar, Balbir Singh, Tarsem Lal Thhapar, Shankar Mukhia, Chander Parkash Chabra, Abhijeet Ghosal, Barun Shah, Chetan Nanda, Ashok Dutt, Baldev Singh, Ish Deep Sharma, Ali Mohammad, Kulvinder Singh, Mangal Singh and Babu Lal.

The court, however, ordered perjury proceedings against two witnesses -- Bollywood actor Shyan Munshi and ballistic expert P S Manocha -- for taking u-turns during the trial.

Discussing the role of Munshi, it said despite admitting that he had witnessed the entire incident, he later declined to identify the real offender which "prima facie" indicates that he was attempting to "help the accused".

While discharging Chabra, father-in-law of one of the friends of Manu Sharma, the court said his statement was recorded three years after the incident and it can be put to "loss of recollection" as a result of passage of time.

"For these reasons, the court is of the opinion that no case has been made out to send PW-52 (Chabra) for further proceedings for perjury, under Section 340, CrPC. The notice regarding PW-52 is accordingly, discharged," it said.

For some witnesses, the court also said the statements made by them were under section 161 (examination of witness by police) of CrPC and it was not on oath and was not clear whether the witness was made to sign the previous statement.

While absolving witness Kulwinder Gill, who worked in Punjabi films with Yograj Singh, an accused in the murder case who was later acquitted, the court said Gill's statement was regarding the complicity of Yograj and Manu Sharma, who was evading arrest.

"However, the prosecution was unable to prove that charge as against Yograj. Therefore, the notice as against PW-65 (Gill) cannot be sustained, it is hereby discharged," it said.