Date:28/05/2004 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2004/05/28/stories/2004052808980400.htm

New Delhi

Court issues fresh summons to Bharti Yadav

By Our Staff Reporter

NEW DELHI, MAY 27. A Delhi court today issued fresh summons to Bharti Yadav, daughter of the Rajya Sabha member D.P. Yadav, to record her statement in the Nitish Katara murder case. Issuing the summons, the Additional Sessions Judge, J.M. Malik, asked Bharti to appear before the court for the mandatory proceeding on July 21.

Mr. Malik issued the fresh summons following the filing of a report by the Union Home Ministry approving of Bharti's intimation to the court that she would not be appearing before the court for some time as she had sustained injuries due to a fall in the staircase at her residence in London.

Mr. Malik had on May 24 asked the Home Ministry to examine Bharti's claim, which she had communicated to the court through her uncle, Bharat Singh, and submit a report by May 27.

Bharti is one of the key prosecution witnesses in the case and the prosecution believes that her examination will help unravel the motive behind the killing of Nitish Katara, son of a senior Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer.

Mr. Malik directed Bharti's uncle to provide residential address of her niece so that the Home Ministry could serve the summon to her in London as well as make it sure that she appear before the court on the next date

On may 24, the Home Ministry had informed the court that it could not serve an earlier summons to Bharti as she was not available at the address given to it.

Bharti is at present doing a professional course in London. She had earlier expressed her inability to come back to India and depose before the court in person saying that she was busy with her studies there.

However, the Special Public Prosecutor (SPP) in the case, S.K. Saxena, had opposed her application submitting that it was a ploy on the part of the witness to delay trial of the case.

Vikas Yadav and Vishal Yadav, son and nephew of D.P. Yadav, are facing trial for allegedly kidnapping and later killing Nitish Katara at Ghaziabad in February 2002.