CHANDIGARH: The Chief Judicial Magistrate, Mr. Shekhar Dhawan, Dec. 11th, recorded the statements of witnesses in the Katia molestation case.
In his statement, Mr. H.S. Madan, Judicial Magistrate of Kharar, said the three complainants were present in his court when he recorded the statement of Katia, a French national, on September 4 last year.
Deposing before Mr. Dhawan as a prosecution witness in the case the Magistrate denied that Katia and her two Kenyan friends Phillips and James had given tutored statements in his court.
Mr. Madan main tamed that Katia and her two friends were brought to his court by Inspector Harish Sharma of the police and he recorded their statements one by one, He said he vividly remembered that he recorded their statements.
Mr. Pradeep Mehta, Deputy District Attorney, filed two fresh applications in the court, requesting that a former District and Sessions Judge of Chandigarh, M.S. Lubana, should be summoned as a prosecution witness in this case.
On the directions of the Punjab and Haryana High Court, Mr. Lubana had held an identification parade of the suspects of Burali Jail. As a prosecution witness, Mr, Lubana should make a statement about the identification parade in the interest of justice.
The Deputy District Attorney also preferred an application for summoning Katia and Phillips from France and Kenya, respectively.
The summons sent to Katia had been returned to the court with the remark “not served” as the French Embassy in Delhi said she had left India.
He also appealed to the court to issue necessary directions the Chandigarh Administration for providing Katia necessary protection as and when she came to India to appear in court.
Mangal Singh, another witness, turned hostile during the proceedings.
Article extracted from this publication >> December 15, 1995
