Mumbai: The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Tuesday opposed the plea filed by actor Sooraj Pancholi seeking a non-bailable warrant against Rabia Khan, the mother of deceased actor Jiah Khan.
Pancholi had moved the plea on June 28, seeking a warrant against Rabia alleging that she had been trying to delay the trial by avoiding the appearance before the court. CBI had opposed the plea stating that it is not the prerogative of the accused to seek a warrant against the witness.
In its reply, the CBI stated that the witness had sought time to appear before the court and the time needs to be given in the interest of justice. Also, the court was informed that Rabia is likely to be the next witness to be examined tentatively on August 17.
Meanwhile, Rabia Khan had sought to re-examine two medical experts Dr Ramesh Kumar Agarwal and Dr Bhalchandra Chikhalkar. It is stated that Agarwal was the first one to examine Jiah and declare her dead while Chikhalkar was a member of the team of doctors who conducted the postmortem. The CBI has opposed the same.
The prosecution on Tuesday examined Dr Ranjeeta Kumari, senior scientific officer at CFSL – CBI as she had examined the letters allegedly exchanged between Jiah and Sooraj which were part of the evidence in the case.
It is claimed that Kumari had interviewed Sooraj and had examined all the letters and evidence and prepared a forensic statement analysis report, forensic psychological assessment report and forensic analysis report.
The defence opposed the examination of Kumari as a witness alleging that totally rests upon the information taken from the accused during the investigation. The defence claimed that Pancholi’s rights were violated when he was examined by these experts.
The prosecution opposed the plea claiming the accused was interviewed by the expert, a senior scientific officer for assessing psychological assessment and behaviour analysis. “The evidence is admissible, and is not self-incriminating as no medicines or instruments are connected to his body like in brain mapping polygraph and narco-analysis tests,” the special public prosecutor Manoj Chalandan argued.
The court rejected the defence plea and allowed the examination of Dr Kumari as an expert witness to prove the reports submitted in the court.
