The Delhi high court on Monday dismissed a petition filed by a lawyer challenging a trial court order for in-camera proceedings of the testimony of Bharti Yadav, sister of prime accused Vikas Yadav, on November 29 in the Nitish Katara murder case.
A Division Bench comprising Acting Chief Justice Vijender Jain and Justice Kailash Gambhir declined to entertain the petiton on the ground that the petitioner had no locus standi in the matter.
The petition had submitted that the trial judge's order impinged on the freedom and the right of the media to be present in court.
In reply, the court said in-camera proceedings were an exception to the general law that courts are "open" to one and all.
Observing that the Katara case had already gathered "disproportionate publicity", the Bench said the petitioner could not challenge a specific judicial order.
However, the court acknowledged the right of the media to report on the outcome of a case in a "balanced manner".
The trial court had last week allowed the plea of Bharti, a key witness in the case, for an in-camera hearing of her testimony.
On February 17, 2002, Nitish Katara, an MBA student, was murdered allegedly by Bharti's brother Vikas and his cousin Vishal Yadav as they were against her intimacy with the deceased.
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