By IANS
New Delhi : Delhi High Court will hear on Dec 6 former police official S.S. Rathi’s appeal challenging his conviction and sentencing for a shootout in Connaught Place here a decade ago in which two innocent businessman were killed.
A division bench of Justices B.N. Chaturvedi and G.S. Sisthani said the criminal appeal would be heard by the court as the prosecuting agency had filed its reply.
Senior Counsel K.T.S. Tulsi appearing for Rathi had sought suspension of the sentence of life term, claiming that the prosecution evidence was in his favour.
Ten policemen including Rathi, who was then assistant commissioner of police, were sentenced to life imprisonment Oct 24 for the murder of two Haryana-based businessmen – Pradeep Goyal and Jagjit Singh – at Barakhamba Road here on March 31, 1997.
A trial court Oct 16 had held them guilty under various sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) including Section 302 (murder).
Filing a revision petition, Rathi said the trial court had erred in appreciating the evidence that he was neither present on the spot of the incident nor did he fire a single shot from his service revolver.
He should not be charged for murder for no fault of his, he said.
Rathi said he did not even order his subordinate staff to fire at the duo. The trial judge, however, had failed to appreciate the defence submission, he argued, seeking immediate release of the accused on bail.
In his appeal, Rathi alleged that the trial judge had “disregarded” the statements of majority of prosecution witnesses and relied upon the testimony of Tarunpreet Singh, the only eyewitness.
Seeking Rathi’s acquittal, Tulsi said his client was near Mother Dairy at the time of the incident – far from the spot of shootout, and he had joined the police team much later.