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Key witness in Nithari case charged with perjury
A case of perjury has been lodged against Nand Lal, a key witness and father of one of the victims, in the Nithari killings case, reports Kapil Datta.
A case of perjury has been lodged against Nand Lal, a key witness and father of one of the victims, in the Nithari killings case. Special Judge Rama Jain of the CBI Court, Ghaziabad, found Nand Lal's statement that Maninder Singh Pandher, one of the accused in the case, had no role in the serial killings, false and lodged a case against him at Ghaziabad's Chief Judicial Magistrate Court on Saturday.
Sagir Ali, Nand Lal's advocate, said, "Initially, the perjury complaint against Nand Lal was lodged by Anil Haldar and Bandana Sarkar, parents of Nithari victims. On Friday, I had argued that complainants have no right to file a case, as they were not related to the Payal murder case. Only the CBI or court, taking suo motto note, could file a complaint."
Special Judge Rama Jain transferred the case to Chief Judicial Magistrate Ghaziabad court for further proceedings. Nand Lal has been directed to appear before the CJM court and furnish a personal bond of Rs 10,000 for bail on December 6.
"Nand Lal reportedly took money for giving a clean chit to Moninder Singh Pandher," alleged Anil Haldar, father of Nithari victim Rimpa Haldar.
"The punishment under IPC section 193 (giving or fabricating false evidence in a judicial proceeding) and 199 (false statement made in any declaration which is by law receivable as evidence) is imprisonment for seven years and fine," said Khalid Khan, advocate of Nithari victims.
"In this petition lodged on November 19, it was alleged that Nand Lal deposed that Dinesh Yadav the then Circle Officer Noida, took bribe in front of him and also deposed that a saw was recovered at the instance of the accused MS Pandher," said Khan.
After the statement, three different petitions were filed by Nand Lal himself, Khan added. "In all the petitions, CBI court Ghaziabad had implicated Dinesh Yadav as an additional accused in anti-corruption charges and issued non bailable warrants. The court had also imposed some additional major charges like rape and murder on Moninder Singh Pandher and had also ordered that Yadav's case diary be impounded," said Khan. "After getting these orders, Nand Lal retracted his statement and deposed again that Dinesh Yadav did not take any bribe before him and no saw had been recovered by police before him," said Khan.