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T L Garg in New Delhi
An arrest warrant was issued on Monday for former India cricketer Yograj Singh, an accused in the murder of model Jessica Lal, for not attending court on Monday, owing to which evidence could not be recorded in the case.
Additional Sessions Judge R L Chugh ordered that Singh be produced before him on Friday, when the case will next be heard.
Under Indian laws, no evidence can be recorded in a criminal trial in the absence of the accused.
Singh is among the nine people accused in the case. All of them except prime accused Manu Sharma are out on bail.
The police have charged Singh and two others under section 212 of the Indian Penal Code with harbouring Sharma during the period after the crime was committed and before he was arrested.
Sharma, son of a former minister, is alleged to have shot dead Jessica Lal on April 29, 1999, after she refused to serve him a drink at the Tamarind Court, an illegal bar run by socialite Bina Ramani. Lal was working as a celebrity barmaid.
Four of the eight prosecution witnesses in the case have so far turned hostile, denying that they were present in the bar on the night of the shooting.
But key prosecution witness Malini Ramani told the court that Sharma had indeed asked for two drinks from Jessica Lal, who refused to serve them as the bar was closed. Malini is socialite Bina Ramani's daughter.
Two prosecution witnesses told the court last week that they had issued an arms licence and sold ammunition to Sharma.
Naveen Chopra, who owns an arms shop in Karnal, Haryana, 90km from Delhi, said he had sold 25 rounds of .22 bore ammunition against a licence to Sharma on February 4, 1999.
Gurnam Singh, who works in the arms licensing department of the Chandigarh administration, testified that arms licence number 191 had been issued to Sharma. "After the preparation of the licence, it was given to Sidharth Vashist [as Manu Sharma is also known]. The licence bears the photograph of Sidharth Vashist," Singh said.
There are more than 100 prosecution witnesses in the case.
Indo-Asian News Service
The Jessica Lal Murder: The complete coverage
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