Nithari case: CBI court adjourns hearing till April 20

GHAZIABAD: A special CBI court today adjourned to April 20 hearing in one of the cases in connection with the sensational Nithari killings, after one of the main accused Surender Koli's newly appointed lawyer sought more time to obtain documents related to the case.

Koli's amicus curiae, Subodh Tyagi filed an application for a week's time for documents pertaining to the Choti Payal murder case, which were not supplied to him following his appointment by the court on April 4.

On March 31, Koli, in his application had told the court that the defence lawyer provided to him by the government was not competent enough to deal with his cases and due to the advocate's incompetency he was sentenced to death.

Special judge Shyam Lal allowed Koli's plea for a new defence lawyer. The court appointed Tyagi as amicus curiae for Koli.

CBI advocate Jai Prakash Sharma told PTI that hearing in the Choti Payal case has almost been completed and only legal rulings will be filed from both sides, including prosecution and defence, following which the case will be fixed for judgement.

Choti Payal was one of the victims in the gruesome Nithari killings in Noida, which had made headlines across the country in 2006.