Chandigarh, December 7
A case without any reason and cogent information cannot be kept in abeyance.
Swati Sehgal, Judge, Fast-Track Special Court, observed this while ordering closure of the prosecution evidence in a case of alleged rape with a US woman, after the police failed to arrange the testimony of two witnesses — Dr Clemence Kron and Dr B Paindaveine — through video teleconferencing (VTC) from France.
What court observed
Keeping in view the sensitivity of the case, the court granted more than 45 days from September 30 to explain the cause of non-recording of the testimony of the witnesses as well as ensuring the court that the witnesses could be examined on any prospective date. No further opportunity seems justified as a case without any reason and cogent information cannot be kept in abeyance. Court
The court said no message or intimation was available with the police explaining the cause of non-recording of testimony of witnesses through VTC on September 30 this year when all objections were removed and all parameters facilitating the VTC of witnesses were fulfilled.
The prosecution had listed the names of Dr Clemence Kron, an intern, and Dr B Paindaveine from France, who conducted a medical examination of the victim. The prosecution had been trying to arrange the testimony of the witnesses through VTC for the past one year.
“Keeping in view the sensitivity of the case, the court granted more than 45 days from September 30 to explain the cause of non-recording of the testimony of the witnesses as well as ensuring the court that the witnesses could be examined on any prospective date. It is one of the oldest matters pending with this court and lingering on only for recording of testimony of witnesses, who are not residents of India. Appropriate opportunity was granted to the prosecution to lead their evidence. No further opportunity seems justified as a case without any reason and cogent information cannot be kept in abeyance,” the court observed.
Earlier, the court directed the SHO to tell the reasons for not conducting the VTC of the two witnesses.
The US national was allegedly raped by two persons in Kharar in April 2015. The victim had visited India on a tourist visa. She had alleged that while she was in Chandigarh, she was raped by an auto-rickshaw driver and his accomplice. She had alleged that they took her to a room in Kharar, raped her and then dropped her near the ISBT, Sector 43.
The woman returned to the US and lodged a complaint with the Chandigarh Police via email in August 2015. She attached a certificate of her medical examination conducted in Paris. Two years after the alleged incident, the police arrested one of the accused, Baldev Singh, in 2017 on the basis of the clues given by the victim. The other accused is still at large.
The court has recorded the statement of the accused under Section 313 of the CrPC.
Manjit Singh, the counsel for the accused, stated that the accused was falsely implicated in the case.
