Inexplicable 83-day delay in recording eyewitness statement: Court while granting bail in murder case

new delhi: A Delhi court has granted bail to a man, accused of being part of an unlawful assembly that allegedly killed a local person during the north-east Delhi riots, saying the statement of the person cited as the eye witness was recorded after a humongous delay of 83 days.

Additional Sessions Judge Vinod Yadav granted relief to Kuldeep Singh in the case of the alleged murder of Babbu during rioting in the Khajuri Khas area. The court directed him to furnish a bail bond of Rs 20,000 with one surety of like amount.

The court said it was the case of the prosecution that the eye witness had witnessed the incident on February 25, 2020, but he neither approached nor made any call to the local police and instead went on to name the accused for the first time when his statement was being recorded by the investigating officer on May 18 last year.

The statement under section 161 (examination by police) CrPC of eye witness PW (public witness) Munna was recorded by IO on May 18, 2020, ie after a humongous delay of about 83 days. The prosecution has not been able to accord any cogent explanation for such a huge delay in recording the statement of said witness.

"Between February 25, 2020, to May 18, 2020, PW Munna never made any complaint whatsoever to the local police/investigating agency, the court said in its order passed on February 3.

It further said Singh was neither visible in any CCTV footage nor specifically named in the FIR.

The court also said the accused was entitled to bail in the matter on the ground of parity with two co-accused persons who have been granted bail in December last year. It directed Singh not to tamper with evidence in the case.

Communal violence had broken out in northeast Delhi on February 24 last year after clashes between citizenship law supporters and protesters spiralled out of control leaving at least 53 people dead and around 200 injured.