A court in New Delhi has dismissed the plea of Aaftab Amin Poonawala, the lone accused in the sensational Shraddha Walkar murder case, seeking trial to be held only twice every month to give suitable time to his counsel to prepare his defence, holding that the request appeared to be "only a tool to protract and delay the trial."
The court also refused to immediately release the bones of the victim for cremation, saying it was required for identification by police witnesses.
Walkar, who was in a live-in relationship with the accused, was allegedly strangled by Poonawala on May 18, 2022.
According to the 6,629-page chargesheet filed by Delhi police in January last year, Poonawala allegedly dismembered her body, kept it in a fridge, and disposed the pieces in desolate places across the city over several days to avoid getting caught.
The body parts were discovered later.
In an order passed earlier this month, additional sessions judge Manisha Khurana Kakkar said out of the 212 prosecution witnesses, 134 had been examined, and consecutive hearings were necessary for the examination of several outstation witnesses.
"The prayer of the accused that only two dates of hearing be fixed in a month for examination of prosecution witnesses appears to be only a tool to protract and delay the trial as the number of prosecution witnesses is excessive and considerable time is required to record the lengthy testimonies of prosecution witnesses, especially police witnesses," she said. -- PTI