Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Thursday ordered the appointment of a special public prosecutor in the Soumya Vishwanathan murder case, acting on reports that the late journalist’s parents had raised concerns about the absence of a public prosecutor during the last few hearings.
However, orders from the court of Additional Sessions Judge Sunena Sharma at Saket Courts, where the case of the 2008 murder of the journalist is being heard, show that either the lead additional public prosecutor or a substitute has been present at eight hearings from July 2018 till the most recent hearing on February 2 this year.
In a statement on Thursday, the Delhi government said the Chief Minister had directed the Chief Secretary to appoint a special public prosecutor in the case immediately. The Chief Minister’s order came a day after Vishwanathan’s parents wrote to the Chief Minister about the slow progress in the case. They said their journalist daughter was shot dead while she was driving home from work in 2008.
“The Chief Minister has taken strong exception to reports that the parents of the late journalist have pointed out about the absence of a public prosecutor during the past few dates of hearing in the court,” the statement read.
Terming it “absolutely shocking”, Mr. Kejriwal directed the Chief Secretary to issue a show-cause notice to the prosecutor “responsible for any negligence” and instructed the Home Department to take necessary steps in the case.
The victim’s mother, Madhavi Vishwanathan, said she hoped the “appointment of the special public prosecutor would be done soon”.
“The public prosecutor in the case does not give us updates. In fact, we did not even know the public prosecutor had changed. I do not know about previous hearings, but he was not there on February 2,” she said.
However, Home Department officials said that the prosecutor in the case, Additional Public Prosecutor R.K. Gurjar, had been attending hearings, but had been on leave on medical grounds recently. In his place, substitute Additional Public Prosecutor Narender Yadav had represented the State, the court order from February 2 shows.
Another substitute Additional Public Prosecutor, Jagdamba Pandey, had appeared during the hearing on December 21, 2018, the order states. Additional Public Prosecutor Ashesh Kumar had appeared as a substitute on November 24, when the judge had been on leave, the records further show. The orders show Mr. Gurjar had attended the hearings on October 31 and September 29, soon after he had been appointed in the case. The then Additional Public Prosecutors in the case, Santosh Kumar had appeared on August 20 and Rakesh Mehta appeared on July 11. Substitute Additional Public Prosecutor Nischal had appeared on July 9, the order further states.
