The Delhi high court on Wednesday ordered actor Shyan Munshi and ballistic expert PS Manocha to face trial for perjury for turning hostile in the Jessica Lall murder case at the trial court. Munshi, who was the complainant and maker of the FIR, had later turned hostile during his deposition, claiming he did not know Hindi.
Munshi, a model-turned-actor from Kolkata who made his Bollywood debut in 2003 with Jhankar Beats and had been since seen in films like My Brother Nikhil, The Bong Connection among others, had shot to notoriety after he got embroiled in one of the most high-profile murder cases in India and retracted from his initial position as a star witness in the ensuing trial, which led to the acquittal of all nine accused, including Manu Sharma, in the trial court. Jessica Lall was shot dead in April 1999 after she refused to serve a drink to Manu Sharma, son of Haryana Congress leader Vinod Sharma, at a late night party at socialite Bina Ramani’s restaurant Tamarind Court.
According to the prosecution, Munshi had started talking about a ‘two-weapon theory’ in the trial court during his deposition, which adversely affected the case. Later, Manocha also did a somersault and endorsed the misleading theory involving two guns, which completely altered the case hearing in the trial court.
However, the Delhi high court had later reversed the trial court decision and gave life imprisonment to Manu Sharma. The high court decision was upheld by the Supreme Court as well in 2010. The high court, while delivering its verdict in 2006, had taken suo motu cognisance of witnesses turning hostile in the case and had questioned the prosecution why they went back on their words during the trial.
A division bench of Justice S Ravindra Bhat and Justice G P Mittal, however, absolved other 17 witnesses from the charge of giving false evidence during their deposition in the trial. The court directed its Registrar General to file a complaint against Munshi and Manocha before trial court.
‘The Registrar General of this court to file a complaint before the competent court having jurisdiction to consider and take action under section 340 of CrPC against the respondents (Munshi and Manocha),’ said the court. The offence carries a maximum of seven years of sentence.
The court also referred the issue of witness protection to the Chief Justice which is to be treated as a PIL. Munshi had pleaded to the court not to prosecute him saying he cannot be termed hostile as even the apex court had used part of his deposition in convicting the accused.
Munshi, a model-turned-actor from Kolkata who made his Bollywood debut in 2003 with Jhankar Beats and had been since seen in films like My Brother Nikhil, The Bong Connection among others, had shot to notoriety after he got embroiled in one of the most high-profile murder cases in India and retracted from his initial position as a star witness in the ensuing trial, which led to the acquittal of all nine accused, including Manu Sharma, in the trial court. Jessica Lall was shot dead in April 1999 after she refused to serve a drink to Manu Sharma, son of Haryana Congress leader Vinod Sharma, at a late night party at socialite Bina Ramani’s restaurant Tamarind Court.
According to the prosecution, Munshi had started talking about a ‘two-weapon theory’ in the trial court during his deposition, which adversely affected the case. Later, Manocha also did a somersault and endorsed the misleading theory involving two guns, which completely altered the case hearing in the trial court.
However, the Delhi high court had later reversed the trial court decision and gave life imprisonment to Manu Sharma. The high court decision was upheld by the Supreme Court as well in 2010. The high court, while delivering its verdict in 2006, had taken suo motu cognisance of witnesses turning hostile in the case and had questioned the prosecution why they went back on their words during the trial.
A division bench of Justice S Ravindra Bhat and Justice G P Mittal, however, absolved other 17 witnesses from the charge of giving false evidence during their deposition in the trial. The court directed its Registrar General to file a complaint against Munshi and Manocha before trial court.
‘The Registrar General of this court to file a complaint before the competent court having jurisdiction to consider and take action under section 340 of CrPC against the respondents (Munshi and Manocha),’ said the court. The offence carries a maximum of seven years of sentence.
The court also referred the issue of witness protection to the Chief Justice which is to be treated as a PIL. Munshi had pleaded to the court not to prosecute him saying he cannot be termed hostile as even the apex court had used part of his deposition in convicting the accused.