Today, the Special Leave Appeal filed by the State of Rajasthan was allowed by the Supreme Court of India. The appeal was filed against the order and judgment delivered by the Rajasthan High Court to summon IPS Officer Ajay Pal Lamba as a court witness related to Asaram’s appeal challenging his conviction in a rape case (minor). The case was presented before the two-judge bench of the Supreme Court comprising Justice M.M. Sundresh and Justice Sanjiv Khanna. The bench stated that “We have allowed the appeal and set aside the impugned judgment. We request the High Court to take up the appeal for hearing expeditiously.”
The appeal
filed by Asaram challenging his conviction was pending before the High
Court. In his appeal, he urged that the entire prosecution case was not
true and fabricated. Further, in this case, an application was moved to
summon Mr. Lamba claiming that the victim was tutored on grounds of some
crime scene videos shot by him. It was also highlighted in the
application that on the accounts mentioned in the book, Gunning For the Godman, the True Story Behind Asaram Bapu’s Conviction,
co-authored by Mt. Ajay Pal Lamba, the claim can be substantiated. The
High Court then allowed the application after hearing the arguments
while the top Court stayed the order while issuing the notice.
The
order delivered by the High Court stated that “The video would
definitely be a valuable piece of evidence because it was recorded
during the first visit by a police officer to the crime scene. Shri
Lamba was not examined in evidence at the trial…Now with the publication
of the book the defence has the right to claim that video of the crime
scene was unquestionably recorded which fact is sufficient to convince
the Court that it is absolutely essential which fact is sufficient to
convince the Court that it is absolutely essential in the interest of
justice and for a just decision of the case to exercise the power under
Section 391 Cr.P.C.
for summoning and examining Shri Ajay Pal Lamba as a court witness in
this case while giving access of cross-examination to the defence as
well as prosecution.”
Mr. Manish
Singhvi, Senior Advocate representing the state, argued that the book
clearly illustrates that it is dramatized version and that the
application filed before the HC was on semi-fictional grounds. On a
contrary, Mr. Devadutt Kamat, Senior Advocate appearing for Asaram
opined that there were various contradictions in the FIR recorded from
19th to 21st August 2013. He further alleged that the Trial Court
dismissed Asaram’s submissions stating that there was a lack of evidence
to demonstrate whether the video was shown to the survivor or not.
Hearing the contentions of both sides, the Supreme Court set aside the
judgment of the HC and allowed the appeal.
Social media is bold.
Social media is young.
Social media raises questions.
Social media is not satisfied with an answer.
Social media looks at the big picture.
Social media is interested in every detail.
social media is curious.
Social media is free.
Social media is irreplaceable.
But never irrelevant.
Social media is you.
(With input from news agency language)
If you like this story, share it with a friend!
We are a non-profit organization. Help us financially to keep our journalism free from government and corporate pressure .
0 Comments