Jessica Lall murder: HC reserves order on hostile witnesses
04 May 2011
The Delhi High Court today reserved its order on the perjury proceedings against 19 witnesses, including model and Bollywood actor Shyan Munshi, for turning 'hostile' during the trial of the 1999 Jessica Lall murder case.
A division bench of justices S Ravindra Bhat and G P Mittal reserved its order after Delhi police concluded its arguments today.
The high court had issued suo-moto notices to the 19 witnesses and had quizzed the prosecution about how all the witnesses took a somersault during the trial.
The Delhi police had earlier submitted before the court a copy of the April 2010 Supreme Court verdict upholding the conviction of prime accused Manu Sharma, son of a Congress leader and former union minister, for the murder.
Following this, the high court had issued notices to witnesses asking why they should not be prosecuted for the offence of perjury.
The bench had remarked that the incident of "turning hostile" has become an "endemic" - but all persons turning hostile could not be painted with the same brush.
"The incidents of witnesses turning hostile and doctored evidence have become endemic now. Some fear for their lives, others get tempted (by bribes) and some do not support (the prosecution) for obvious reasons. Should we go ahead and prosecute all of them?" it asked.