Dehradun (Uttarakhand): Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami led Uttarakhand government might have promised the "harshest punishment" to the culprits in the sensational murder of teenage receptionist Ankita Bhandari. However legal experts have pointed out that the high-profile case involving suspended BJP leader Vinod Arya's son Pulkit Arya faces a basic legal hiccup.
Arya and two of his accomplices have been arrested in the case with the Dhami government having set up an SIT to probe the case on a Fastrack basis. However, according to legal experts, the first major reason for the screw-up, in this case, is the lack of any advocate in representing the accused. Most of the district bar associations have refused to fight in favor of the accused.
In such a case, a one-sided hearing cannot take place. Senior advocate Chandrashekhar Tiwari said the bar associations of most of the districts have refused to fight the case in favor of the accused. In this situation, there can be no one-sided hearing, which poses a major challenge to the Fastrack hearing of the case.
Also read: Ankita murder case: Court sends three accused to 3-day police custody
Legal experts argue that even if the accused are provided with an advocate as per the court order, then also it will be opposed. Then as an alternative, the High Court can transfer this case to the Pauri district or even out of the state. In such a situation, there is a doubt on whether the case should go to the fast track court which can again be of direct benefit to the accused in technical terms.
Uttarakhand Bar Council member and senior advocate Chandrashekhar Tiwari while talking to ETV Bharat said that the state government would first have to file an application in the High Court to get the matter heard in the fast-track court. After this, the High Court can appoint a special judge along with transferring the case to the fast track court present at Pauri district headquarters, he said.
But in the midst of all this process, if the accused do not get any advocate to represent them, then a technical problem can hamper the fast-track court hearing, added Tiwari. According to Tiwari, the evidence of the police investigation is very important to bring justice to Ankita and her family. If the SIT probing this case files strong evidence including forensics in its charge sheet, then there is a strong possibility that Ankita will get justice and the accused can get the harshest punishment. In this case, everything depends on the investigation of the police, said Tiwari.
Pulkit Arya and his two staffers of his Vanantra Resort allegedly pushed Ankita into a canal following an altercation on September 18. The 19-year-old, Ankita, was missing for at least six days before the Uttarakhand administration recovered her body from the Chilla canal in Rishikesh on September 24.
The Kotdwar court has granted three-day police remand to the three accused in the Ankita murder case including Pulkit Arya. This comes after SIT had applied in court for the police remand of the accused. The Special Investigating Team (SIT) is preparing the documents to take the three accused on remand and grill them for more information about the murder.
