Sketch relevance to be decided at final stage of trial: CBI court
Disposing of an application of Kalyani Singh, an accused in the advocate Sukhmanpreet Singh Siddhu, alias Sippy, murder case, the CBI court has stated that the admissibility and relevance of the sketch prepared on the descriptions given by a prosecution witness shall be decided at the final stage after both sides have led their evidence.
The accused filed the application with the prayer not to treat the documents on record since the CBI has failed to produce the original source of the sketch. He counsel argued that the sketch was purportedly prepared on computer on the instructions of a prosecution witness on August 4, 2020.
He said an application for providing the deficient documents and a specific prayer for supply of original/primary/digital soft copy of the sketch was also made earlier by the applicant. However, the CBI had replied that no other detail/data with regard to the computerised sketch was received except the report.
He said it was evident that the original data, i.e. computer sketch, does not exist and a printout, which is not a primary evidence in terms of Section 65-B of the Indian Evidence Act, would not fall even in the category of secondary evidence.
Therefore, the accused objects to that document on the ground of inadmissibility as well as unsustainable mode of proof.
Narender Singh, Public Prosecutor, said during investigation, a CBI Inspector got a sketch prepared on his laptop with the assistance of a sketch artist as per descriptions and features narrated by the witness. A printout of the same was taken by the Inspector, which was submitted in the court. He said no soft data was available with CBI. The inspector was repatriated from CBI on completion of his tenure and the laptop used by him had been formatted.
He urged that the documents may be treated as secondary evidence as soft data is not available and certificates under Section 65-B of the Indian Evidence Act, 1872 will be produced by the Inspector at the time of his deposition, as the same can be submitted at any stage of the trial.
The 35-year-old national-level shooter and advocate was killed in a park of Sector 27 on September20, 2015. After re-investigation, the CBI arrested Kalyani Singh on June 15, 2022, on the allegation that she murdered Sippy Sidhu.
Computer image
Narender Singh, Public Prosecutor, said during investigation, a CBI Inspector got a sketch prepared on his laptop with the assistance of a sketch artist as per the descriptions given by the witness. A printout of the same was taken by the Inspector, which was submitted in the court.
