New Delhi: A Delhi court today dismissed a
petition of those accused in the 1996 Lajpat Nagar blast case
seeking transfer of the matter to a judge who was earlier
conducting trial but was recently transferred.
District and Sessions Judge G P Mittal rejected the plea
of the accused stating that their application has not been
properly drafted.
The court, however, gave them liberty to move a fresh
application in this regard.
The accused persons, including prime suspect Farooq Ahmed
Khan, had said that Additional Sessions Judge M K Nagpal, who
had been hearing the 13-year-old case for quite some time, has
been transferred and another sessions judge Chandra Gupta has
succeeded him, which is likely to prolong the trial.
They had claimed it was against the principles of natural
justice and sought transfer of the case to Nagpal for speedy
disposal.
As many as 10 persons including a woman, all hailing from
Jammu and Kashmir, are facing trial for allegedly carrying out
the blast at crowded Central Market in Lajpat Nagar in south
Delhi on the evening of May 21, 1996 which claimed 13 lives,
besides injuring 39 people and setting ablaze 14 buildings.
The court, which had already concluded hearing final
arguments in the case, recently allowed the prosecution`s plea
to examine five more witnesses.
Bureau Report
