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Dec 16 gang rape: Delhi court dismisses plea by convict’s father
New Delhi: A Delhi court on Monday dismissed a complaint filed by Heera Lal Gupta, father of Pawan, one of the convicts in the December 16 gang rape case, seeking
New Delhi: A Delhi court on Monday dismissed a complaint filed by Heera Lal Gupta, father of Pawan, one of the convicts in the December 16 gang rape case, seeking perjury proceedings against the victim’s friend, who was the sole eyewitness to the incident, alleging that he had taken bribes and was a “motivated witness”.
Additional chief metropolitan magistrate Sudhir Sirohi said the issue raised in the complaint was also raised by the defence during the trial of the case. However, the same was rejected and the accused was convicted.
“…it is clear that the convict Pawan Kumar Gupta has already been convicted and the plea, which has been taken by the father, was the defence of the accused and was available with the convict during the whole of trial. No order of the trial court has been filed to show that the trial court has given any finding with respect to the wrong/unworthy testimony by the alleged witness,” the court said in its order.
The male friend was accompanying the 23-year-old paramedic when she was gang-raped on a moving bus on December 16, 2012, following which she succumbed to injuries 10 days later at a hospital at Singapore.
In his plea, the father had sought the registration of an FIR against the woman’s male friend for ‘giving false and concocted information’, which had led to Pawan’s conviction.
The complaint, filed through advocate AP Singh, said a series of 10 tweets by the former managing director of a private news channel had said the woman’s friend had taken money as bribe for interviews and debate appearances on television channels.
The plea contended that the witness had given “false facts” and “fabricated statements” to the police. It sought that summons be sent to the man for providing a “baseless and concocted story”. It sought that directions be issued to the police to register a case against the man for “hatching a well-planned conspiracy against innocent people”, leading to their conviction and causing widespread public anger.
