Sippy Sidhu murder case: Defence picks holes in key witness’ testimony
Points out proximity to victim’s family, five-year gap in getting sketch prepared, gaps in statements
One of the key prosecution witnesses in the Sippy Sidhu murder case, who claims to have seen prime accused Kalyani Singh fleeing from spot of crime, had participated in the protest march against the UT police in December 2015, three months after the murder and led from the front, the defence counsel has claimed before the special CBI court conducting the trial.
Trying to discredit the witness, the counsel produced photos of the protest, where the protesters were seeking Kalyani’s arrest.
As per her lawyer, five years after the murder, in 2020, the witness, 58-year-old Amreeta Singh, got a sketch of Kalyani made from CBI, stating that “she saw her jawline when she (Kalyani) escaped the scene of crime” after the murder and described Kalyani as having “normal Indian features” while her sketch was being made, the trial proceedings, a copy of which is with HT, reveal.
National-level shooter and lawyer Sukhmanpreet Singh, better known as Sippy Sidhu, 34, was shot dead at a park in Sector 27 on September 20, 2015. His family has accused Kalyani of killing him as they had turned down her marriage proposal.
Sippy was the grandson of late justice SS Sidhu, a former Punjab and Haryana high court judge, and Kalyani is the daughter of retired Himachal Pradesh high court judge justice Sabina.
The sensational case was initially probed by the Chandigarh Police. But in 2016, it was transferred to CBI following protests by Sippy’s family. The central agency had at one point of time also filed an “untraced” report. But in June 2022, she was arrested by CBI and later charged with murder.
It was on May 5 this year, nine years after the murder that the CBI court ordered day-to-day hearing of the trial while framing charges against Kalyani, who has been out on bail since September 2022.
What transpired in court
Amreeta Singh, whose testimony is being questioned by Kalyani’s defence counsel, is among the only two witnesses who claim to have seen Kalyani at the scene of crime on September 20, 2015.
Her testimony was recorded on July 20 this year, wherein she supported CBI’s case and claimed that she saw Kalyani leaving the scene of crime. The second witness had also supported CBI’s case.
Details of the July 20 proceedings were provided by her counsel Sartej Singh Narula during a press conference in Chandigarh on Friday.
Raising questions on Kalyani’s digital sketch prepared by CBI based on the eyewitness’ description, which is one of the evidences in the case, Narula questioned the witness during her cross-examination. When asked whether she went for the protest march in 2015, she denied initially.
After being confronted with photographs and video clips showing her as participating in the protest march, the witness replied that she had gone there to pick her daughter who was there and maybe the photographs got clicked then by the media.
The witness responded with a “yes” when asked if she was aware that slogans were raised against Kalyani during that protest march.
Further during her cross-examination, the witness stated that it took 45 minutes for the CBI’s sketch maker to prepare a sketch of the accused. The defence counsel asked the witness whether she can tell the manner in which she described the nose or shape of Kalyani’s eyes to the sketch maker.
“I described them as normal Indian eyes and nose. I distinctly remember her jawline, complexion and height,” said the witness.
She was further asked whether she described all features of the accused as normal Indian features to which she replied “yes”.
The defence had then asked her that there were more than 100 crore Indians, do they have similar nose and eyes.To this, the witness had replied that they were different.
In another attempt to debunk the witness’ claims, the defence counsel had also pointed out in court that the boundary wall of the witnesses’ house was about 5 feet and 6 inches high, with 2-foot high grille and 6-inch spare heads on the top.
The witness had stated in her testimony that as she heard sound of gunshots, she had rushed to the first floor balcony of her house, which faces the road. She had then seen a girl fleeing in a car.
While addressing the media on Friday, Narula alleged, “It is very clear that she is a made-up witness. It is evident that she is known to Sippy’s family, having participated in the protest march. How can she get the accused’s sketch made five years after the incident, when she already knows Kalyani.”
On the other hand, Sippy’s brother Jasmanpreet Singh Sidhu said, “In her examination in chief, Amreeta Singh identified Kalyani in court. Thousands of people attended the protests in Chandigarh, and also in UK, Canada, Australia and New Zealand. Does this mean, all these people are relatives of Sippy and his family? About 100 witnesses are yet to be examined.”