Date:18/07/2007 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2007/07/18/stories/2007071860740300.htm

New Delhi

Katara case: defence witnesses dropped

Staff Reporter

NEW DELHI: Irked by non-appearance of two witnesses of prime accused Vikas Yadav in the Nitish Katara murder case despite repeated summons, the trial court hearing the case dropped two defence witnesses on Tuesday.

Refused

Additional Sessions Judge Ravinder Kaur passed the order refusing to grant more time to the witnesses. The witnesses -- Sandeep Mishra, a Ghaziabad-based advocate, and Rambeer, Vikas’ friend -- had allegedly been with Vikas and his cousin and co-accused Vishal Yadav during the period when the police claimed they were absconding. The court observed that since the witnesses had been listed by the defence, it was their responsibility to produce them on the assigned dates.

The defence had sought depositions of the witnesses in a bid to prove that they were electioneering in Ghaziabad and not absconding, as the prosecution had claimed, following the murder on the night of February 16, 2002. So far four witnesses have been dropped from the case.