Hit-&-run case against Punjab judicial officer shifted to Delhi

NEW DELHI: Supreme Court transferred on Thursday the trial in a hit-and-run case involving death of a motorcyclist from Phagwara in Punjab to Rohini courts in Delhi after his widow expressed apprehensions over fairness of the trial in a state where the accused is a probation judicial officer.

A bench of Justices Surya Kant and Joymalya Bagchi said file of the case, in which the judicial officer driving a car allegedly caused death of a person travelling from Hoshiarpur to Phagwara on a bike, would be transferred from court of judicial magistrate at Phagwara to chief judicial magistrate at Rohini courts.

However, the bench acceded to the request from the counsel for the judicial officer to exempt him from personal appearance after he undertook that he would have no objection if the Delhi court recorded statements of witnesses in the presence of his counsel, who shall mandatorily attend the proceedings on every scheduled date of hearing.

SC asked the accused to mark his attendance before the Rohini court through video conferencing and told him that under no circumstances should his counsel seek adjournment of trial proceedings. The victim's wife had moved SC seeking transfer of the trial.

It said Delhi trial court shall decide the woman's plea for further investigation by CBI. The court also transferred the widow's compensation claim before a Motor Accident Claims Tribunal at Himachal's Kullu to MACT in Rohini courts.