Man accused of killing wife moves HC for info about her loan account

A man, accused of killing his wife, has moved the Delhi High Court seeking information from a public sector bank regarding a loan obtained by his late spouse prior to her death.

The man has challenged an order of the Central Information Commission (CIC) rejecting his plea to direct the Central Bank of India to provide information about the loan account of his late wife.

The transparency panel, CIC, had denied him relief as he did not have a certificate from a competent authority, stating he was the woman's husband as she had shown his cousin as her spouse when obtaining the loan.

Justice Rajiv Shakdher, before whom the matter was listed, said the other man, the petitioner's cousin, was the joint holder of the loan account and he, he also has to be made a party in the case as his rights would also be affected.

Advocate Arpit Bhargava, appearing for the petitioner, sought time to seek instructions on making the other man also a party. The court listed the matter for hearing on July 24.

During the hearing, the lawyer told the court that the woman played fraud on the bank while obtaining the loan, by showing someone else as her husband and thus put at risk money which belongs to the public.

The petitioner, who is behind bars since 2014, has claimed that the information sought would help him defend himself in the criminal cases he is facing.

Apart from facing trial for the murder of his wife in 2013, the petitioner is also accused in an earlier dowry case filed by her in 2002.

The petitioner has claimed that since he is shown as the deceased woman's husband in both matters as well as in the FIR, these details should suffice to prove that he was her spouse. This contention was raised by him before the CIC, which had rejected it.