M A I N   N E W S

Court for in-camera hearing in Delhi gang-rape case
Tribune News Service

New Delhi, January 7
The proceedings in the case of gang rape and murder of the 23-year-old girl in a bus in Delhi will be held in camera, a local court today ordered after the five accused were produced before it.

Metropolitan Magistrate Namrita Aggarwal also restrained the media from reporting and publishing the proceedings of the case in the court after the Delhi Police filed an application under Section 327 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPc) for in-camera proceedings. The section also prevents the media from reporting the legal procedures.

MM Aggarwal ordered, “The proceedings, including the inquiry and the trial, can be held in-camera. I am invoking Section 327 (2)(iii) of the Cr PC. Everyone except the accused and the Special Public Prosecutor is directed to vacate the courtroom.”

The five accused, Ram Singh, his brother, Mukesh, Pawan Gupta, Vinay Sharma and Akshay Kumar Singh were given a copy of the chargesheet and will be produced before the court on January 10.

Earlier, reporters and curious lawyers thronged court room number 207 of the Saket District Court. Inside the court room, several women lawyers from the local bar association objected to those who volunteered to represent the five accused in the court. The women lawyers argued that the government will instead provide legal aid to the accused.

The court proceedings that were to start at 12.30 pm were delayed by an hour as the lawyers continued to argue with each other. After a while, MM Aggarwal arrived inside the courtroom and said the accused cannot be brought inside due to the lack of space. She left and returned after an hour to pass the order.

The MM while passing the judgment said, “The courtroom has become jampacked with a lot of disturbance created from different roots and corners. The persons who have thus assembled and who are present inside the court, not connected with the case, have been repeatedly asked to wait outside so that court proceedings can proceed, but with no effect. The persons are not willing to leave the courtroom…It has become incompletely impossible for court proceedings to proceed.”

Special Public Prosecutor Dyankrishnan informed the court that there was apprehension about the safety of accused.

The lock-up in charge of the Saket court said he could not produce them before the court apprehending their safety during passage and inadequate space inside the room.

Jam-packed court room

• Reporters and curious lawyers thronged court room number 207 of the Saket District Court on Monday.
• Inside the court room, several women lawyers from the local bar association objected to those who volunteered to represent the five accused in the court. The women lawyers argued that the government will instead provide legal aid to the accused.
• The court proceedings that were to start at 12.30 pm were delayed by an hour as the lawyers continued to argue with each other

Age of THE juvenile accused

NEW DELHI: The Principal of the school, where one of the gang-rape accused, a juvenile, studied, appeared before the Juvenile Justice (JJ) Board today. He brought some documents concerning the age of the juvenile. The court is still looking into the matter and has asked for more documents from the school Principal. The juvenile is likely to be produced before the board on January 15. The decision on his ossification (bone) test to determine his age might be taken after January 15.