: A Delhi Court is in a quandary over who will represent the prosecution in the Khirki Extension assault case as two lawyers have appeared before it and claimed appearance on behalf of the State.
AAP MLA from Malviya Nagar Somnath Bharti is a charge-sheeted accused in the case.
Kamna Vohra informed the court that she had been appointed as a Special Public Prosecutor (SPP) for the State, while Atul Kumar Srivastava, who has been appearing in the case for the past one year for the prosecution, said he had no notice of that.
The court adjourned the matter to April 14 on a request by the SPP and directed Mr. Srivastava to get clarification with regard to his appearance. Ms. Vohra also produced a notification regarding her appointment before the court.
The case is at the cognisance stage.
The police had in 2014 chargesheeted Mr. Bharti and 17 other accused under various Sections of the Indian Penal Code, including under Sections 354 (molestation), 147/149 (rioting), 341 (wrongful restraint), 506 (criminal intimidation), 509 (outraging modesty of a woman), 153A (promoting enmity between two groups), 323 (assault), and 427 (criminal trespass).
The Delhi Police alleged that “nine African women were victims of molestation and manhandling by a mob led by Mr. Bharti”. These women are among the prosecution witnesses mentioned in the chargesheet.
The police had later also filed a supplementary charge-sheet in the case.
A Metropolitan Magistrate court has recorded the statements of some of these women under Section 164 of the Criminal Procedure Code, which are admissible as evidence in the trial.
“As per the investigation conducted so far, statements of witnesses, and documents on record… there are sufficient evidence against Mr. Bharti and the other accused,” the chargesheet said.
The FIR in the case had been lodged based on a court direction on a complaint by some of the victims.
The victims also alleged that they were subjected to a cavity search during their medical examination at AIIMS.
