He might have been declared a proclaimed offender but Vikas Gill’s acquittal in the Jessica Lall case has left the Delhi Police few options on how to proceed against him.
Now that he has been acquitted, senior police officers said legal proceedings against him have to be stopped. “Unless, of course, Delhi Police goes for an appeal against his acquittal,” a senior police officer said.
Non-bailable warrants had been issued against Gill and he was declared a proclaimed offender after the Delhi Police realised that he had left the country in October 2004 when the case was pending against him in the trial court. The prosecution was completely in the dark about his departure. That is not all. Gill had been marked present when the trial court announced its judgment in the Jessica case on February 21. He was not in the country at that time.
The Delhi High Court had ordered the sealing of a nursing home and three plots of land in Chandigarh owned by Gill.
“There can be no legal proceedings against him as he has been acquitted in the case, which means that he never committed any offence. Action should, however, be taken against the person who impersonated him in court and marked attendance on his behalf,” senior criminal lawyer Kamini Jaiswal said.
{{/usCountry}}“There can be no legal proceedings against him as he has been acquitted in the case, which means that he never committed any offence. Action should, however, be taken against the person who impersonated him in court and marked attendance on his behalf,” senior criminal lawyer Kamini Jaiswal said.
{{/usCountry}}“The legal proceedings can, however, continue if Delhi Police goes for an appeal against Gill’s acquittal,” Jaiswal added.
Gill, according to the prosecution, had allegedly driven Manu Sharma to Chandigarh after Jessica’s murder. RK Sudan, who the police claimed disposed of the pistol, was in the same car. Gill dropped him at the Kashmere Gate bus stop.