Murder of Journalist Saumya Viswanathan: Accused seeks Rs 1 crore compensation for delay in trial

Aggrieved by the unreasonable and inordinate delay in concluding the trial, one of the accused in the murder of journalist Saumya Viswanathan has moved the Delhi High Court seeking Rs. 1 crore as compensation..A Single Judge Bench of Justice Mukta Gupta yesterday issued notice to the Delhi Police in the petition preferred by the accused..The Court has also directed the Delhi Police as well as the concerned Sessions Court to submit a status report of the case..Journalist Saumya Vishwanathan was found dead in her car in Delhi’s Vasant Kunj in September 2008. The petitioner, who was 20 years old when the case was registered in 2009, has been “languishing in jail and facing trial as an undertrial prisoner” since his arrest..Having spent more than nine and a half years in custody as an undertrial, the petitioner claims that he has suffered immense mental, physical, social and emotional agony..It is the petitioner’s stance that due to huge social and media pressure, he was arrested and falsely implicated in the case. He states that the prosecution remained clueless about the real culprits for about 6 months since the date of the offence and then chose to arrest him on the basis of a false, fabricated and concocted prosecution story..The petitioner is facing charges under Sections 303, 201, 489, 420, 468, 471, 411 and 34 of the Indian Penal Code, 1860 as well as Section 3 of the Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act, 1999. Apart from the petitioner, there are four other accused in the case..Till now, the prosecution has examined less than 60 percent of the 88 witnesses it has cited in its chargesheet and supplementary chargesheet, the petition filed through Advocate Amit Kumar states..Invoking the Constitutional Right to Speedy Trial under Article 21, the petition submits,.“..the respondent-state cannot avoid its constitutional obligation by pleading any inability/excuses, as the consequences for pre-trial detention are extremely grave.”.It also relies on Section 309 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 to state that once examination of witnesses starts, the court has to hold the trial on a day-to-day basis until all witnesses in attendance have been examined..It is stated that the unreasonable delay in investigation and trial of the present case has not only prejudiced the right of the petitioner, but also the right of family of deceased. The same has been due to inordinate delay in investigation, non-availability of the Special Public Prosecutor, and non-appearance of the witnesses..The accused, therefore, seeks a direction to the Sessions Court presided by Judge Sunaina Sharma to expedite and conclude the trial within a fixed time frame, and on a day-to-day basis, in the interest of justice..In addition, the petition has also prayed for a compensation of Rs 1 crore for the inordinate delay in conclusion of the trial..The matter will be next heard on February 26..Read the Petition: