New Delhi : A Delhi court here on Tuesday rejected a plea — moved by a lawyer claiming to represent former Delhi Minister Sandeep Kumar — that alleged there was a threat to Kumar’s life and sought directions for installing CCTV cameras in the jail and videotaping of his court appearance.
Special Judge Poonam Chaudhry rejected the application of lawyer A.P. Singh after the former Minister told the court that he did not appoint Singh as his defence counsel and Singh took the signature in the ‘vakalatnama’ (form of authorisation to a lawyer to represent a client) claiming himself as an associate of his defence counsel Pradeep Rana.
However, Singh denied the submission made by Kumar and said that the former AAP Minister willingly appointed him as his defence counsel.
Meanwhile, the court extended the judicial custody of Kumar till October 4.
Kumar’s wife Ritu and his lawyer Pradeep Rana on Friday denied Singh’s claim at a press conference here.
Ritu said she met her husband in jail on Friday morning and the claim that he was assaulted was wrong. She said neither she nor Kumar had appointed Singh as his lawyer.
The former Social Welfare and Women and Child Development Minister in the Delhi government was arrested on September 3 after a woman approached the Sultanpuri police in north Delhi with a complaint of sexual harassment.
He was booked under Sections 376 (punishment for rape) and 328 (causing hurt by means of poison, with intent to commit an offence) of the Indian Penal Code.
Kumar was also charged under the Information Technology Act’s Section 67-A (punishment for publishing or transmitting of material containing sexually explicit act in electronic form).