By IANS
Ghaziabad : Monider Singh Pandher, the prime accused in the Nithari serial killings case, Wednesday approached a Ghaziabad court seeking prosecution of advocate Khalid Khan, who has been representing the parents of the children killed.
The Noida businessman sought Khan’s prosecution contending that he had instigated Nand Lal, the father of 21-year-old Payal and one of the key witnesses in the case, to depose against him.
On Nand Lal’s deposition, the court had decided to prosecute Pandher on charges of rape and murder and also prosecute erstwhile Noida police inspector Dinesh Yadav on charges of taking bribe for shielding Pandher.
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) too had sought Pandher’s prosecution on milder charges of immoral trafficking rather than on the charges of rape and murder, but following Nand Lal’s deposition, the court framed the charges of rape and murder against him.
But, Nand Lal later retracted his statements to the court, saying advocate Khan had instigated him to depose against Pandher.
It is following this turnaround of Nand Lal that Pandher moved the court for Khan’s prosecution.
The court issued notices to Khan and slated the matter for hearing Nov 29.
Khan also moved the court seeking Nand Lal’s prosecution on charges of perjury and retracting his statements before the court.
Khan had been Nand Lal’s lawyer before he withdrew the charges against Pandher. He, however, continues to be the lawyer for the families of other victims, including Madhu (14), Anjali (14) and Jyoti (16).
Disposing another application related to the case, the court fixed Thursday for recording the statements of the fathers of these Nithari victims.
The parents of of Madhu, Anjali and Jyoti had moved an application through Khan in the court Tuesday, requesting that their statements be recorded at the earliest.
Meanwhile, the court dismissed a plea by the CBI to summon the wife of a key witness in the Nithrai serial killings to quiz her on her deposition in the court that the CBI director had threatened her husband with dire consequences.
The designated court of Special Judge Rama Jain dismissed the CBI’s plea to summon Bandana Sarkar, saying it was not legally tenable.
The court said the prosecution agency cannot cross-examine Bandana as she was technically a prosecution witness.
Bandana and Jatin Sarkar’s daughter Pinky was one of the 20-odd victims in the gory serial killings in Nithari, a village touching Noida near New Delhi.
In September, Jatin was found drowned in the Ganga in West Bengal under mysterious circumstances. Bandana had moved the Supreme Court for a probe into her husband’s death.