New Delhi: The Delhi High Court on Thursday sought response of the four accused facing trial in connection with the death of Arunachal Pradesh student Nido Tania last year after they allegedly beat him up at Lajpat Nagar here.
Justice Manmohan Singh issued notice to Farman, Pawan, Sunder Singh and Sunny Uppal, seeking their reply on CBI's plea against the trial court's decision to drop charges under the SC/ST Act against the culprits.
"Notice issued to all the four accused," the court said, adding that the reply should be filed within four weeks.
Meanwhile, the court directed Tihar Jail Superintendent to serve court notice to Farman, who is in judicial custody. The remaining three accused are out on bail.
The court has now listed the matter for further hearing on July 17.
At present, the accused are facing trial in the matter before a sessions judge.
A similar plea has been filed by Tania's father Nido Pavitra, a Congress MLA from Arunachal Pradesh, who sought quashing of the September 25, 2014, order of the sessions court which had held no charge could be framed against the accused under the relevant provisions of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (SC/ST) (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989.
His plea, filed through advocate Prashant Mendiratta, had said the trial court had adopted wrong interpretation of the law and refused to frame charges against the accused under the provisions of SC/ST Act "despite the fact that the entire assault, which resulted in the untimely demise of a young man, was unequivocally and clearly motivated by the accused perceiving him as belonging to Scheduled Tribe".
19-year-old Tania, a BA first year student in a private university here, had an altercation with some shopkeepers at Lajpat Nagar market here on January 29, 2014, after they made fun of his hair style.
Following the altercation, the shopkeepers had allegedly thrashed him. Doctors at AIIMS declared him brought dead the next day.
The death of Tania had evoked outrage among the people of
the northeast living in the national capital who alleged that police had failed to protect him.
Initially, police had booked the four accused under section 302 (murder) of IPC after the postmortem report showed Tania died due to injuries on his head and face caused by a blunt object. The agency had also invoked charges under the SC/ST Act.
However, during filing of the charge sheet, CBI had dropped the murder charges against the accused, saying Tania's killing was not premeditated but a result of an altercation over breaking of a glass counter of a shop in the market.
Three minors, who had also allegedly assaulted Tania, are facing an inquiry before the Juvenile Justice Board here.
