New Delhi: Taking a serious view of a judge
resorting to "short cuts" while examining the accused at the
time of trial, the Delhi High Court has expressed its anguish
by remanding a murder case and ordering re-examination of the
accused.
"We expressed our anguish on the earlier occasion. After
allowing at least five or six instance which we noticed.
Thinking that they were aberrations, we let it pass, till it
dawned upon us that virtually in every case Narottam Kaushal,
ASJ is resorting to short cuts," the division bench, headed by
Justice Pradeep Nandarajog, observed.
"We are pained once again to note that the errant judge
is none else other than Kaushal, who we have repeatedly been
noticing is totally ignoring the fundamental principles of
criminal law.
"He repeatedly refers to and examines the accused with
reference to the narratives in the chargesheet. We have
expressed our anguish on two earlier occasions with respect to
the manner in which the trial has been conducted by the
judge," the bench said.
"We are constrained to hold that as a result of total
non-application of mind and not a single incriminating
circumstance, except one or two, being put to the accused,
justice requires the appeal to be disposed of after setting
aside the impugned judgement and the sentence," the bench also
said.
Besides remanding back the case, the bench asked the
trial judge to re-examine the accused Dinesh Kumar, who was
sentenced to life imprisonment in 2004 for killing a woman
over a property dispute, and allow him to lead defence
witnesses within four months.
The court granted bail to him on the ground of delay in
trial on furnishing a bail bond of Rs 10,000 and surety of
like amount.
The Registrar General of High Court was directed by the
bench to send a copy to the judge.
PTI
First Published: Friday, March 19, 2010, 22:13