By IANS
New Delhi : Former Rajya Sabha member D.P. Yadav’s son Vikas Yadav, facing trial in Delhi for his alleged role in murdering his sister’s friend Nitish Katara, Thursday moved the Supreme Court seeking transfer of the case to any court in Tamil Nadu.
Admitting Yadav’s plea, a bench of Justices Ashok Bhan and V.S. Sripurkar expressed surprise over Vikas Yadav’s request.
It observed that the case had been first transferred from Ghaziabad to Delhi and “now you want it to be shifted to Madras”.
Counsel for Vikas Yadav and his cousin Vishal Yadav, who too is facing the trial in Delhi’s Patiala House court, contended that they wanted the case to be shifted outside Delhi to escape the “media trial” here.
He pleaded for an early hearing of his clients’ plea, seeking Oct 22 as the next date of hearing. But the bench fixed the matter for Oct 29.
In their petition, the Yadav cousins alleged that the slain youth’s mother Neelam Katara had an extraordinary influence over the Delhi government, which has prompted it to take unusual interest in the case.
They alleged that even Delhi’s lieutenant governor recently showed unusual interest in the appointment of the government’s standing counsel to challenge their various pleas in the Delhi High Court regarding the trial.
They sought to utilise an official communication of the union home secretary to the foreign secretary to buttress their allegation that even the central government was against them.
The home secretary’s communication pertained to the time when Vikas’ elusive sister Bharti Yadav, then staying in London, was evading the Delhi trial court’s summon to depose before it.
“The home secretary himself had written a letter to the foreign secretary stating that the warrants to bring Bharati Yadav should be executed because the case has attracted considerable amount of general public attention and influential personalities are involved,” their petition said.
“The home secretary emphasised in his communication that it is their duty to ensure that justice is done and the victim’s family rightfully believes that the government has not done enough.
“This shows that there is considerable influence from various quarters and the petitioners are being adversely affected,” they added.