Tough times in HC for Mattoo case accused

Santosh Kumar Singh, prime accused in the Mattoo case on Wednesday had a tough time in Delhi High Court.

Santosh Kumar Singh, who alleged that witnesses were planted against him to frame him in the Priyadarshni Mattoo rape-cum-murder case, on Wednesday had a tough time countering CBI's contention before Delhi High Court that he had suffered injury during the scuffle with the victim.

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Singh's counsel RK Naseem had contended before a Bench comprising Justices RS Sodhi and PK Bhasin that the accused had not suffered injury during the scuffle with the victim but had met with a road accident nine days before Mattoo's murder.

However, this argument did not impress the Bench, which asked if the accused had injured his hand how was he driving the motorcycle around the Delhi University Campus on the day of the incident, on January 23, 1996.

"There should have been some bruises on the hand if the accused fell from his motorcycle and got such a big injury," the Bench observed referring to the defence taken by Singh that the fracture was caused as a result of an accident and not due to the scuffle with the victim as the CBI has claimed.

Naseem said there was no fresh injury caused to the accused on the day of the incident and prosecution had attempted to give an impression that the swelling he suffered due to the accident had occurred on the day of Mattoo's murder.

At this point the Bench wanted to know that if the metacarpal bone in the right hand of the accused had fractured due to the accident on January 14, 1996, how was he riding his motorcycle till January 23, 1996.

To this Naseem replied that CBI did not have the evidence to prove its allegation that Singh was seen driving a motorbike in the university campus.

"No prosecution witness in their testimony has said having seen him in the campus with the motorbike," he submitted.