Shraddha Walkar case: Delhi HC rejects plea to set deadline for trial

It contended that despite the arrest of the accused in November 2022 and the completion of the investigation backed by medical, digital and forensic evidence, the trial had progressed slowly.

The Delhi High Court on Friday declined to fix a deadline for concluding the trial in the 2022 Shraddha Walkar murder case, observing that no further directions were warranted at this stage as the proceedings were being conducted on a day-to-day basis.

“No further direction is required to pass at this stage, since trial is happening on a day-to-day basis,” a bench of Justice Madhu Jain said while disposing of a petition filed by Walkar’s brother.

The petition had sought directions to the trial court to conclude the proceedings within a fixed timeframe. It contended that despite the arrest of the accused Aftab Amin Poonawala in November 2022 and the completion of the investigation backed by medical, digital and forensic evidence, the trial had progressed slowly.

The petitioner argued that the delay had imposed an unbearable emotional burden on the family because Shraddha Walkar’s dismembered remains continue to be retained by the investigating agency and the trial court as material exhibits. As a result, the family has been unable to perform her last rites and accord her a dignified farewell.

This was after, Delhi Police counsel Amit Prasad submitted that the trial was progressing on a day-to-day basis, except on weekends, and that the trial court was making every effort to conclude it at the earliest.

Prasad informed the court that the prosecution had cited 222 witnesses. Testimony of 157 witnesses has already been completed, while examination-in-chief of six witnesses and cross-examination of 14 witnesses remain pending. He added that 15 witnesses have been dropped and another 23 are likely to be dropped by the prosecution.

Accepting the submission, the high court held that no additional directions were necessary at this stage.

According to the prosecution, Poonawala allegedly strangled his live-in partner, Walkar, on May 18, 2022, following an argument. Police alleged he then dismembered her body, stored the remains in a refrigerator at his Chhatarpur Pahadi residence and disposed of them over the next several days in a nearby forested area.

A chargesheet filed in January 2023 accused Poonawala of murder, abduction and destruction of evidence, alleging he used a knife, scissors and a saw to dismember the body. Investigators also claimed he was enraged over Walkar speaking to someone she had met through a dating application.

In May 2023, a Delhi court framed charges against Poonawala after finding sufficient material to proceed. He pleaded not guilty, following which the trial commenced.

The prosecution’s case has relied on both circumstantial and corroborative evidence, such as the recovery of bones, a bunch of hair, the jaw of the deceased, apart from blood traces in and around Poonawala’s flat and testimonies of witnesses who corroborated the sequence of events leading to the alleged murder.