Delhi High Court: A Single Judge Bench comprising of Sanjeev Sachdeva, J. allowed a petition filed against the order of the trial court whereby the two of the prosecution witnesses were discharged only after recording of their testimony and without cross-examination.
The trial court had recorded the testimony of the said witnesses and thereafter discharged them. The petitioner submitted that sufficient opportunity was not granted for the defence counsel to be ready for cross-examination of those witnesses. Aggrieved by such discharging of the witnesses, the present petition was filed by the accused-petitioner.
The High Court perused the orders passed by the trial court. They, inter alia, showed that the matter was adjourned from time to time for examination and cross-examination and the same was being deferred either for want of FSL report or securing the presence of witness. It was seen that one of the witnesses was discharged after recording the testimony without cross-examination as on that date only a proxy counsel was present who sought passover or an adjournment which was not granted. Similarly, the opportunity for cross-examination of the other witness was not sufficient as the FSL report was produced by the Investigating Officer for the first time on the same date the witness was examined and discharged. In such facts and circumstances, the Court was satisfied that the petitioner was not afforded a sufficient opportunity to be ready for cross-examination. Thus, the petition was allowed and the trial court was directed to re-summon the witnesses concerned. [Deepak Kumar v. State (NCT of Delhi),2018 SCC OnLine Del 11517, dated 25-09-2018]