A special fast-track court hearing the December 16 gang-rape case on Wednesday said the allegations of assault levelled by an accused in the case against fellow inmates at Tihar Central Jail here could not be substantiated from the CCTV footage provided by the jail authorities.
“I have examined the CCTV footage provided by the Tihar jail superintendent on allegation of beating made by accused Vinay Sharma. No such alleged incident is seen in the said CCTV footage,” Additional Sessions Judge Yogesh Khanna said. Vinay had appeared before the court with his right hand in a cast on April 5 and pleaded that he should not be sent back to Tihar. The jail officials had, however, refuted the allegations and claimed he was injured during a fight with co-accused Akshay Singh in the jail van while returning to the prison from court.With M.L. Sharma, counsel for accused Mukesh, failing to appear before the court on Wednesday, the court enquired from Mukesh if he wanted to have a counsel from a legal aid, but he refused. The judge also considered appointing an amicus curiae, who could assist the court in the absence of defence counsel so as to avoid any delay in the trial.
