Mehrauli killing: Court gives ‘last opportunity’ to Poonawala’s advocate to respond to arguments on charges

NEW DELHI: A court here on Saturday provided the last opportunity to Aaftab Amin Poonawala’s advocate to respond to the Delhi Police’s arguments on charges against him.

Poonawala is accused of strangling his live-in partner Shraddha Walkar and chopping her body into pieces.

Additional Sessions Judge Manisha Khurana Kakkar noted that Poonawala had engaged a new private advocate in place of the legal aid counsel and that the new advocate sought time to respond to the prosecution’s arguments on charges.

“…Counsel… seeks adjournment to address arguments on charges. Last opportunity given on the ground that he is engaged recently. It is made clear that no further opportunity will be provided,” the judge said.

The matter has been posted on March 31 for further proceedings.

Meanwhile, the court also allowed the application of the victim’s father and complainant Vikas Walkar to attend the court proceedings through video conferencing.

There are “incriminating circumstances revealed through reliable and clinching evidence which form a chain of events”, the Delhi Police told the court earlier on March 20 as it completed its arguments on charges.

Poonawala has been booked for the offences under sections 302 (murder) and 201 (causing disappearance of evidence of offence) of the Indian Penal Code.

According to the charge sheet, Poonawala allegedly strangled his live-in partner Walkar on May 18 last year and sawed her body into several pieces which he kept in a fridge for almost three weeks at his residence in south Delhi’s Mehrauli locality.

He then allegedly scattered the remains across Delhi, some of which have since been recovered.

The Delhi Police filed a 6,629-page charge sheet on January 24. (PTI)