New Delhi: With Additional District and Sessions Judge Sachchidanand Singh scheduled to deliver its judgment in the much publicized Gaya Road Rage case today, all eyes will be on main accused Rocky Yadav.
The judgment comes five days ahead of the 5 September 2017 deadline fixed by the Supreme Court.
Three of the four accused of the case are family members of the JD (U) suspended law maker Manorama Devi. The accused include Manorama's son Rocky and her husband Bindi Yadav. Rocky is alleged to have killed class XII Student Aditya Sachdeva for overtaking his vehicle on 7 May, 2016.
Regarded as the most sensational trial in recent years, the road rage case invited national media attention. Public Prosecutor Sartaj Ali Khan said that he has done everything possible to make a very strong case against the accused.
During the last 18 months, the case witnessed several twist and turns, the most important of the twists being the bail granted to Rocky by the then Chief Justice of the Patna High Court Justice Iqbal Ahmad Ansari. The bail was promptly suspended and subsequently cancelled by a Supreme Court bench headed by Justice SA Bode. The HC bail left many tongues wagging in the judicial circles of the state.
Not only that, six key witnesses including four friends of the slain teenager who were eye witnesses in the all-important case turned hostile, thereby causing a major setback to the prosecution.
Sachdeva's friends also retracted from their earlier statement that was recorded before a first class Judicial Magistrate.
The Public Prosecutor was changed mid-way during the trial following the series of witnesses turning hostile. Sartaj Ali Khan replaced SDN Singh as the Public Prosecutor. Not only was Public Prosecutor, the trial court, contrary to normal practice, too changed mid-way.
A few weeks before the conclusion of the trial, the trial was transferred from the court of ADJ IX SP Mishra to the court of ADJ I Sachchidanand Singh. The cause of the change of court remains a matter of speculation.
Sources said that the final judgment will throw some light on the court transfer issue, sources at the district court told CNN News18.
Being a very resourceful litigant, Rocky's father Bindi Yadav arranged a battery of good lawyers. The defence lawyers included Delhi based lawyer Surendra Singh. Singh is known for his cross examination skills and domain knowledge of Forensic Science and Information Technology. As its star witnesses turned hostile, the prosecution has been heavily depending on scientific evidence including forensic test report of Rocky's Beretta pistol, the alleged weapon of offence and the tower location of Rocky's mobile phone.
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