New Delhi: A Delhi court has dismissed a man's plea seeking the transfer of a murder case against him to any other court on the allegations of bias against the magisterial court.
Principal District and Sessions Judge Madhu Jain was hearing a plea filed by one Ankit seeking the transfer of the case to some other court.
He was facing trial for various offences, including murder, in a 2025 FIR registered by the Tilak Nagar Police Station.
The accused alleged the absence of a "proper, fair and effective opportunity" to represent himself, pointing out the transfer of the case was essential to meet the ends of justice.
On June 5, the court said, "The allegations made in the complaint of denial of fair opportunity to defend, are not directly relevant to determine whether a case should be transferred or not as no description of any particular incident with date, time and manner has been narrated, which makes the allegations bald and vague."
Underlining the primary concern of a transfer plea was to ensure that the case was adjudicated fairly, the court noted that the chargesheet was yet to be filed in the murder case, and after Delhi Police filed its final report, the magistrate would commit the matter to a sessions court.
"The petitioner has alleged that the trial court exhibited bias and unfair treatment, including depriving fair opportunity of hearing and making adverse remarks against the defence counsel. The accused has also contended that the actions of the presiding officer demonstrated a pre-set mindset by the trial court," it said.
The order, however, found no evidence on record to support the claims of non-adherence of legal procedures and that the magisterial court was conducting the trial in a biased manner.
"The non-disclosure of time, dates and specific instances and nature of (the allegations in) the transfer application indicates that it has been intentionally filed not to address genuine concerns but to create procedural obstacles and delay the trial. Consequently, these actions reinforce the impression that the applicant’s primary objective is to delay the trial rather than to substantively challenge the proceedings."
Dismissing the plea, the court noted the trial was in line with the legal procedure, without an indication of an undue bias or procedural irregularity by the magistrate.