HC stays recording of evidence in 2008 serial blasts cases

The Delhi High Court today stayed the recording of evidence in the 2008 serial blasts cases on a plea of an accused that the administrative order to transfer the trials to another court would cause delay and prejudice to 13 Indian Mujahideen suspects.
A bench of justices S Ravindra Bhat and Nazmi Waziri said that the additional sessions judge, before whom the terror cases have been transferred by an administrative order of the high court on August 3, will not record the testimonies of prosecution witnesses.
The court also issued notice to Delhi High Court Registrar on the plea of accused Mohd Shakeel seeking quashing of the notification ordering transfer of all the five cases, probed by the special cell of Delhi Police, from the a sessions court at Tis Hazari to the court of ASJ-2 at Patiala House courts in New Delhi on various grounds including of delay and prejudice.

M S Khan, who represents seven IM suspects in the case, said, "The transfer of the cases is likely to result in avoidable delay in the proceedings - firstly, in transferring all case files from the courts at Tis Hazari to the ASJ-02 at Patiala House and subsequently because the transferee court is burdened with all cases arising from investigations conducted by the Special Cell of the Delhi Police."
It is in the interests of justice that the judge who has had the advantage of seeing the evidence first-hand and of examining all the relevant witnesses, is allowed to conclude the trial and adjudicate the guilt or innocence of the petitioner, the petition said.

"The trial is at an advanced stage - 197 witnesses have already been examined and only 30-40 witnesses are left to be examined. Almost the entire trial has been conducted by the judge currently presiding over the cases. Allowing cases to be transferred at this belated stage would have no beneficial effect and would have a deleterious effect..." it said.
Besides Shakeel, 12 accused are facing trial in five separate cases for their alleged involvement in the September 13, 2008 blasts that rocked Karol Bagh, Connaught Place, Greater Kailash and India Gate leaving 26 people dead and 133 injured.