Uber driver allowed to examine himself as defence witness

A court here Wednesday allowed a plea of the Uber cab driver, who is accused of raping a woman executive in his taxi, to examine himself as a defence witness in the case.

Additional Sessions Judge Kaveri Baweja allowed driver Shiv Kumar Yadav's plea to examine himself as a defence witness, and fixed Thursday for recording his statement.

The court, however, dismissed a plea by the accused seeking CCTV visuals of the area from where the woman hired the cab and for recalling her, her friend and the investigation officer for further cross-examination.

Yadav's counsel submitted that lodging a rape case against the driver and then filing a lawsuit against Uber in the US was a well-hatched conspiracy planned by the woman and her friend to seek compensation.

The court said the woman's lawsuit in the US has nothing to do with the rape case.

According to police, the woman executive was allegedly raped by 32-year-old Yadav inside the cab on the night of Dec 5, 2014.

The court Jan 13 framed against Yadav charges of rape and causing grievous bodily harm and endangering the life of a woman, kidnapping a woman, criminal intimidation and voluntarily causing hurt under various sections of the Indian Penal Code.

In just 17 days, the prosecution last week completed recording of evidence in a court here.