By IANS,
New Delhi : A Delhi court Thursday put off till July 12 the arguments on quantum of punishment for Sukhdev Pehalwan, the third accused who has been found guilty in the 2002 Nitish Katara murder.
Additional Session Judge J.R. Aryan deferred the arguments after counsel for Pehalwan filed an application stating that he would not be able attend the day’s hearing.
The court accepted the plea and fixed July 12 for the arguments on the quantum of punishment. The order on Pehalwan’s sentence would follow the arguments.
Pehalwan was Wednesday held guilty of murder, abduction, destruction of evidence, conspiracy and common intention in teh Nitish katara killing.
His trial was separated from two other convicts, Vikas and Vishal Yadav, as he could not be arrested till 2005.
“The case has been proved against you. That night, you were with Vikas and Vishal Yadav when the murder took place,” the court said at the time of his conviction.
According to the prosecution, Pehalwan was present with co-convicts Vikas and Vishal in their car after they abducted Katara from a marriage function in Ghaziabad and killed him on the intervening night of Feb 16-17, 2002.
The case was shifted to a Delhi court by the Supreme Court on the request of Nitish Katara’s family.
Pehalwan was declared a proclaimed offender before being arrested. He was charge sheeted in April 2006.