Court reprimands SPP for 'mishandling' Jessica case

The court is questioning why Bina Ramani was not declared hostile when she retracted from her statement.

The Delhi High Court on Wednesday, came down heavily on the Special Public Prosecutor (SPP) for "mishandling" the Jessica Lall murder case in the trial court.

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A Division Bench of Justice RS Sodhi and Justice PK Bhasin remarked that due to SPP's mishandling of the witnesses during the trial, the accused have been let off. "Your SPP has brought the case down and you have let off the accused," the Bench told the Delhi Police.

The court asked why Bina Ramani, a key witness in the case, was not declared hostile when she retracted from her statement that she had seen the prime accused Manu Sharma putting a pistol in his pocket after allegedly shooting Jessica.

The court was hearing an appeal filed by the Delhi police challenging the acquittal of all the nine accused in the case.