Govt procures 4,000 MTs C-grade apples

SRINAGAR, Dec 17: The Jammu and Kashmir government has procured around 4,000 metric tonnes (MTs) of C-grade apples under the Market Intervention Scheme (MIS), an official spokesman said today.

He said the state government also decided that an additional 2,400 MTs would be obtained from different areas of Kashmir.

The spokesman said a high-level meeting of officials of state Horticulture, Planning and Marketing (HPM) department here reviewed the progress of the MIS.

The meeting called upon the area marketing officers to make efforts to achieve the additional target. (UNI)

Sansad Parliament Hamla: A cartoonist
takes a dig at politicians

NEW DELHI, Dec 17: During a security check at the entrance of Parliament a politican is detained as a scanner detects some explosive, unparliamentary thoughts in his brain. This is no science fiction but the solution cartoonist Neeraj Gupta offers for smooth functioning of the legislature.

Infact, Gupta’s cartoon shows the plight of MPs while undergoing a security scan and on being detained. It is a part of his exhibition, "Sansad Par Hamla" (Attack on Parliament) put up on the 5^{th anniversary of the terror attack.}

^{"The phrase "Sansad Par Hamla" immediately conjures up images of December 13 attack on Parliament, five years back. But here I am talking of a different attack on the power centre - from politicians in the form of walkouts, protests and unruly behaviour," he says.}

^{"These attacks are much more dangerous than the terror attack. They are eroding the pillars of our democracy, says Gupta, who has put up the exhibition at a gallery just opposite the Parliament House.}

^{This is the apt time to put up such an exhibition, when questions are being raised on what have we done for the martyrs of the Parliament attack, we have not even brought the guilty to the book, he rues.}

^{Gupta calls for putting an end to these attacks by politicians, who have come to Parliament as people’s representatives, but are working for petty personal and political gains. "Their game has to end urgently, otherwise it would give rise to many more serious attacks on the Parliament," says Gupta, working as creative director with Samsung India.}

^{One of Gupta’s cartoons infact shows MPs taking with them the pillars of parliament house. "A pillar-less parliament building... That is the future, if they are not stopped."}

^{Another cartoon shows Mahatma Gandhi staging a walkout. "There is a statue of Bapu outside Parliament House. It stood lifeless for years. But now unable to bear the unruly behaviour of the politicans any more, it has even staged a walkout, and no longer wants to be there," he says.}

^{According to estimates, around Rs 20,000 is spent on one minute of Parliament proceedings. But sometimes almost the whole session goes waste as not a single hour of business is conducted. It is people’s money which is going down the drain. Are MPs not accountable to this, questions Gupta through another cartoon.}

^{Another satirical cartoon of his shows a 24-hour news channel, showing a news flash "Aaj Sansad Mein Kam Hua" (Business was conducted in the House today).}

^{Taking a dig at the ‘cash for question’ scam, Gupta shows the chambers of politicians in Parliament House with posters showing rates for asking questions and even offering discounts.}

^{Gupta says he now plans to take the exhibition out of the four walls of the gallery to the streets, to what he says "show the people the true face of their representatives."}

^{"The cartoons will make them think... And probably they would be a little more wise before next elections." (PTI)}

India shouldn’t hurry in signing nuke deal: Scientists

MUMBAI, Dec 17: A group of scientists today said India should not hurriedly sign the Indo-US nuclear deal till the the concerns of the country’s top nuclear scientists are addressed.

Since the public at large does not understand the nuances of the final US Congress bill, which will be imposed on India once the deal goes through, it is in the interest of the future generations to work towards making the deal favourable to India, said members of the of the Atomic Energy Retirees’ Welfare Association (AERWA).

They had a two-hour discussion with former Atomic Energy Commission chairman P K Iyengar today on the occasion of "Pensioners Day".

Studying the final bill passed by the US Congress on the Indo-US deal on December 8 is important while dealing with its discriminatory nature, they said.

Iyengar said, "Let us not accept the discriminatory process as we succeeded during the past 50 years. If we accept the deal by giving into their (US) conditions, then it is not in India’s favour.

"In fact, we will do a disservice to our future generations and to their freedom for research and development," he said.

Iyengar asked members to study the bill in detail on their own and find out how discriminatory it was, and not to listen to ad hoc statements issued by various people.

Replying to a question by an association member on whether it was former Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri who decided to conduct a nuclear test in 1974 and not Indira Gandhi, as referred to in an article written a retired civil servant, Iyengar said, "When Shastri took over after the death of Jawaharlal Nehru, China exploded its bomb and that was the last atmospheric explosion allowed.

"Then India had to decide on its security preparedness and had to explore how we should go about the bomb when an atmospheric explosion was already banned," he said.

"So Shastri sent a delegation, including former AEC chairman Vikram Sarabhai to UK, US and a few more countries to get an umbrella protection like Japan so that India could avoid testing, but the delegation came back empty handed. Then India had to decide on Pokhran but unfortunately Shastri died untimely and so did Sarabhai," he said.

Later, Indira Gandhi had to take the decision, Iyengar said. (PTI)

CM owes ‘explanation’ on land holdings, says Bardhan

HYDERABAD, Dec 17: The CPI today demanded that Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y S Rajsekhar Reddy "explain" as to how his family members held assigned lands, but welcomed surrender of the surplus lands.

"Reddy should explain as to why they were holding assigned lands and how they came to acquire them," party general secretary A B Bardhan told reporters in an informal chat here.

"It would become a good precedent if others too give up their surplus lands, but the Chief Minister cannot be above law and law should take its own course in this case too," Bardhan, who was here to participate in a couple of party meetings, said.

"The move to surrender the surplus land is welcome. We have been fighting for land reforms and if people voluntarily come forward and distribute their surplus land it would be beneficial to the downtrodden," he said.

On Telengana, Bardhan said, that his party would take the same line as was taken during the voting on Chhattisgarh and two other states had come up in Parliament.

The thumping win of TRS in Karimnagar need not be voice of the entire people of Telengana, Bardhan said, "as many still believe that a special package could develop the region."

"We demand that an expert committee should be set up to study the reasons for backwardness of Telengana and suggest measures to redress the problems," he said.

Earlier, he inaugurated a workshop for employees of banking and insurance sector. Bardhan also addressed public meetings in the old city. (PTI)

Basic particulars enough for challenging
poll malpractices: SC

NEW DELHI, Dec 17: In a significant ruling, the Supreme Court has said there was no need for a defeated candidate in polls to furnish material particulars to prove allegations in an election petition of improper and illegal voting in favour of a rival candidate.

It would be sufficient if the aggrieved candidate’s petition is able to furnish basic particulars about the nature of the alleged malpractices, a bench comprising Justices C K Thakker and R V Raveenderan said while allowing the appeal of a Congress candidate against a Himachal Pradesh High Court order, which dismissed his election petition on the ground that it lacked "material particulars".

The Apex Court directed the High Court to admit the petition filed by Congress candidate Virender Nath Gautam, who had challenged the election of Satpal Singh, the sitting BJP legislator from Una assembly constituency.

Gautam, who lost assembly elections on February 10, 2003 to Singh by a margin of just 51 votes, had challenged the result and alleged there were large-scale malpractices by the victorius candidate.

Besides rigging and impersonation, he alleged that there were specific instances wherein the votes of 37 dead people were cast by impersonators.

According to Gautam, even though he had furnished evidence in support of his allegations including the death certificates of 36 of the 37 dead people, the High Court dismissed his petition at the admission stage.

The High Court took the view that Gautam failed to provide information as to when and how he came to know about the impersonation, who the impersonators were and why he had not challenged the inclusion of dead voters at the time of the revision of electoral rolls.

However, the Supreme Court observed that the High Court "stepped into the prohibited area of considering correctness of allegations and evidence in support of averments by entering into the merits of the case which would be permissible only at the stage of trial".

Pointing out that Gautam had furnished sufficent relevant particulars to back up his charges, the apex court remarked, "Whether or not the candidate is able to prove the said allegation is a matter of evidence which can be considered only at the stage of trial."

Accordingly, the court remitted the petition back to the High Court with a request that the matter be disposed of expeditiously. (PTI)

Sadananda Gowda elected Karna unit BJP president

BANGALORE, Dec 17: Karnataka unit BJP President D V Sadananda Gowda, MP, was today unanimously re-elected to head the party in the state in the coming three years.

BJP general secretary and the party’s election observer Om Prakash Mathur announced the election of Gowda at the state council meeting held here in the presence of a galaxy of leaders, including Deputy Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa and senior leader M Venkaiah Naidu.

The party’s national general secretary Anantkumar, general secretary and In-charge of BJP affairs in Karnataka Tewar Chand Ghelot and ministers representing BJP in the JDS led coalition government, party functionaries and workers were present on the occasion.

Gowda’s was the lone nomination filed for the party job yesterday when the deadline for filing of nominations ended, leading to his re-election.

Gowda, who represents Mangalore Lok Sabha constituency, had taken over the state unit presidentship about eight months ago, following induction of incumbent Jagadish Shettar into the ministry.

Speaking on the occasion, Naidu admitted that there were problems in Karnataka too over the election, but that a consensus has been reached to choose Gowda unanimously.

There was intense lobbying by Yediyurappa and his supporters for the continuance of Gowda and for his replacement by Anantkumar’s faction.

Delegations supporting both groups had visited Delhi in the run up to the elections, to impress upon top leaders their viewpoints.

"During elections some problems arise. Here also it did happen. In democracy, differences of opinion are common. Our tradition is to strike a consensus. We have done it in Karnataka", Naidu said, addressing the gathering.

Obviously unhappy about the delegations that made a beeline to Delhi over the state unit party president election, he said "we normally do not encourage delegations to Delhi favoruing or opposing anyone".

However, the delegations asked the party high command to conduct elections at an early date and with consensus, he said adding that "we have taken a decision and concluded that Gowda will lead for the next three years".

Gowda will appoint other state unit and local unit office bearers, he said and asked partymen to co-operate with him.

Praising the JDS-BJP coalition government he said the party was happy with its performance and the people of the state have accepted the coalition Government.

He cautioned partymen not to aspire for posts as they are "limited", to quell any rebellion, in the backdrop of plans to appoint chiefs to various boards and corporations as part of the power sharing agreement with JDS in the state.

Naidu came down heavily on the "divisive agenda" of the UPA government and its minority appeasement policies.

Yediyurappa declared that the coalition arrangement with JDS would continue even if BJP gains a majority in the coming assembly elections in the state.

"We should take JDS along with us so that we can keep the Congress in opposition for another ten years", Yediyurappa said and detailed the welfare programmes being impelmented by the coalition Government.

Yediyurappa said he was ‘pained’ at the events that unfolded last month over the election of state unit president, but assured cooperation to Gowda.

Anantkumar wanted the partymen to strive for instilling its own government and ensure the victory of party candidates in the coming civic body elections due to be held in February.

Gowda, replying to feliciations, said "we are in a position to capture pwoer in Karnataka on our own".

He said the party has so far enrolled nine lakh members. (PTI)

Non-disclosure of FIR filed after applying
job not concealment

NEW DELHI, Dec 17: Observing that non-disclosure of a criminal case which the police register subsequent to a person applying for a Government job cannot be considered as "wilful suppression" or "concealment" of facts, the Delhi High Court has directed the Delhi Police to take a dismissed constable back into service.

Setting aside the order of Delhi Police as also that of the Central Administrative Tribunal which dismissed the plea of constable Nirbhai Singh for his reinstatement into the service, a Division Bench of Justices Manmohan Sarin and Vipin Sanghi said a provision seeking declaration of quitting the job following a criminal case registered in future was absent in the application form for the post.

"The wilful supression and concealment is required to be established otherwise, without the aid of the deeming provision," observed the Bench and directed the police to reconsider the termination of Singh within three months.

The Bench also asked the victim to appear before the concerned authority of the Delhi Police on December 27, 2006.

In October 1997, during a special recruitment drive by the Delhi Police, Singh was selected as a constable and he joined the service in March 1998.

Singh, in the same month, was arrested and remained in judicial custody for two months following an FIR charging him and his family with abetting the suicide by his brother’s wife over alleged dowry harassment.

In December 1997, Singh was served with a notice issued by Delhi Police accusing him of concealing the fact to the department and an inquiry was also conducted.

However, subsequently in September 1998, the trial court had acquitted him from all the charges. Despite the court order, he was dismissed from service in January 1999.

Singh then approached the CAT against the order but it also dismissed his plea. (PTI)

Climate change may induce a more deadly dengue

NEW DELHI, Dec 17: A more deadly dengue may be an indirect off-shoot of the impending climate change besides its direct effects like rising sea level, intense cyclones, floods and droughts, says a World Bank study.

Higher temperatures (between 0.9 to 1.3 degrees celsius by 2050), changes in water supply, extreme weather events and decline in agriculture would have significant impact on public health and safety, says the study on adaptation to climate change, released at an international conference here.

The changes could cause a significant increase in the frequency and intensity of vector-borne and water-borne disease like dengue and malaria.

The study also underlines that the health-related effects of the changes would be more severe for the poor in developing countries.

There will be significant increases in the frequency, severity and distribution of dengue fever. The higher temperature would increase the biting rate of mosquitoes and decrease the incubation period of the dengue virus.

In countries where the malaria vector is found, the desease would spread repidly.

Diarrhoea disease was likely to become more common in warmer world, particularly in an environment of decreasing rainfall. Sea level rise could also increase the incidence of diarrhoea by disrupting sanitation and water supplies, the study said.

More intense cyclones and droughts would lead to increase in nutrition-related deficiencies. Loss of agriculture and fisheries could result in malnutrition and deterioration in standards of living, while the loss of land and infrastructure could lead to increased crowding conditions, exacerbating problems of urban management.

The study said the climate change was likely to affect coastal areas more than any other area. It would impact in three major ways-through rise in sea level, leading to erosion and inundation, through more intense cyclones and storm surges and through high sea-surface temperatures leading to decline in coral reef. (UNI)

Police file chargesheet against high-profile cheat

NEW DELHI, Dec 17: Delhi Police have filed a chargesheet against a man accused of duping a number of people in the name of cracking high-profile business deals or getting their wards admitted in prestigious colleges using his sham corporate and political connections.

In the chargesheet filed before the court of Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate G P Singh, the Delhi Police Economic Offences Wing yesterday claimed that the accused Anil Pathak had cheated different persons to the tune of Rs 34 lakh saying that he enjoyed high political and corporate connections and could easily get their work done.

Thirty-year-old Pathak was arrested from his Vasundhara Enclave residence in Ghaziabad district on October 17 this year following registration of an FIR with police station Rajouri Garden invoking Sections 120B (criminal conspiracy), 420 (cheating), 467 (forgery) and 471 (using forged documents as genuine) of the IPC.

After the inquiry, the police recovered letterheads mentioning Pathak as member, Congress Working Committee (CWC) and several letters noting him to be a liason officer of Microsoft Inc.

Besides some incriminating documents, the police also seized some photographs purportedly showing the accused with Congress President and UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi and her son Rahul Gandhi. One of the photographs showed him to be sitting with Bill Gates of Microsoft Inc, they claimed.

The police swung into action after one Vijay Sharma, Director M/s Triamble Info Technologies Pvt Ltd here, made a complaint with Deputy Commissioner of Police (EOW) alleging that Pathak had duped him to the tune of Rs 19.30 lakh.

On November five last year, Pathak fraudulently made his company as "gold partner" of Microsoft and showed an email in this regard to him, Sharma alleged, adding that the accused also signed an MoU on behalf of software majors CISCO and Microsoft with him.

Later, to his utter shock, he found that the companies have signed no agreement with him, he stated.

During the investigation, the police claimed in its 16-page chargesheet that it was found Pathak had duped seven other persons namely D S Saini, A K Bhalla, Tarun Suri, Baljeet Singh, H K Bhatia, J S Singh and Ashwini Suri, all belonging to Delhi, for getting their wards admitted in prestigious schools and colleges of Delhi. (PTI)

Parliamentary panel suggests standardisation
of herbal drugs

NEW DELHI, Dec 17: With quality control on herbal drugs not developed sufficiently, research on standardisation methods involving modern instrumentation is urgently required, a parliamentary panel has said.

The 31-member committee, headed by Rajya Sabha MP P G Narayanan-while expressing concern about the safety of herbal preparations, particularly their metallic components and toxicity-stressed on the importance of a regulatory mechanism and genuine certification.

The report of Parliament’s standing committee on science and technology and environment and forests on drugs and pharmaceuticals research, including herbal medicines, suggested that research on developing standardisation methods is urgently required.

It said as developing new molecules involves about one billion dollars and a lot of uncertainties and takes 10 to 12 years, strategies should be designed to have medicines for common diseases within a short time span.

The committee also suggested that patent expired drugs could be considered for developing novel drug delivery systems (NDDS) to enhance bio-availability, safety and efficacy.

"It will take lesser time than that of developing new molecules," the report said.

With this in mind, the government should concentrate on developing new molecules as a long-term strategy, it said.

With the growing incidence of the young population getting affected by lifestyle diseases and the continuation of life-long medication to control these illnesses, there is a need to develop medicines to combat gastric problems, diabetes, arthritis, stress-related disorders and thoracic disorders.

Noting that there is no coordination and focused approach among research groups and institutions, the committee suggested authorities should concentrate on the country’s "core competencies and focus areas where results can be excellent rather than doing too many things without fruitful achievements".

The panel said lack of coordination, despite work progressing in different parts of India to search and isolate effective plant medicines, has led to many miscommunications, work repetitions, use of contradictory methods of study and missing out on important information.

"By having good networking among these groups, much time, effort and cost could be saved," the report said.

The committee said quality control of raw materials is the prime concern in manufacturing herbal products and for this good cultivation practices should be implemented.

Despite India having a vast resource of drugs of natural origin, the committee said, the country has been unable to effectively tap the world market.

"There is a need for proper system of registration with acceptable standards and quality control to derive the maximum benefit from herbal drugs," it said.

The committee stressed the need to create situations so that mid-career scientists return home. "This could be done by creating a national pool of at least 1,000-1,500 Central pool of jobs with central support to attract the best scientists from overseas and retain the good scientists who are attracted by going abroad," the report said.

Despite India being a low cost hub for drug development, drugs remain unaffordable for the poor, the report said.

With this in mind, the committee said emphasis should be given to herbal research, focussing on developing drugs for diseases commonly prevailing in the country.

It suggested that an audit report on drug development be prepared, which should include the organisational structure, expenditure since inception of the project and outcome of the research, including productivity and effectiveness of drugs.

Following complaints from the scientific community about restrictions on using animals for research, the panel noted this has led to a delay in getting clearance for animal experimentation, resulting in "research activity becoming a victim of animal activism".

Observing that the Commitee for the Purpose of Control and Supervision of Experiments on Animals (CPCSEA) had in some cases stalled major research, it said that the body should "initiate steps to provide quick approvals and make the system more transparent".

"In-vitro experimentations should be encouraged more to avoid testing of drugs on animals and use of 3-D computer graphics by downloading lead molecule structures from protein data bank and then modifying the same accordingly to software to design new treatments through new drugs should be given more emphasis so that a mimimum number of animals are used for drug testing," it said. (PTI)

BJP to look at ways reviving its fortune
in UP in Lucknow executive

NEW DELHI, Dec 17: The BJP will discuss measures for improving its performance in the coming Uttar Pradesh Assembly polls and deliberate on issues concerning national security, wrong policies on tackling terrorism, prices and the Indo-US Nuclear deal at the party’s National Executive on December 22 and its National Council at Lucknow for the next two days.

The National Council, held for the first time in BJP’s history, will affirm Mr Rajnath Singh as the party president for a three-year renewed term in his home state of Uttar Pradesh, the most populous and politically sensitive state, which will 40 to polls in a couple of months. The party also has to face crucial elections in Uttaranchal and Punjab.

Those who had relegated BJP as an insignficant player in Uttar Pradesh in the media and political circles were in for a shock after the recently concluded urban local body elections where the BJP had emerged as a clear winner sweeping many City Corporations including Ghaziabad.

The RSS described Mr Singh as ‘lucky vote catcher’ for the BJP and the win also boosted his chances for getting a renewed three year term. Mr Singh even otherwise was expected to be retained in view of the U P elections but the party’s success has granted him crucial bonus points.

The BJP will organise rally on December 24 on the eve of birthday former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee in Lucknown his Lok Sabha constituency. The last BJP Executive in Lucknow was held in 1984.

Mr Singh will be under sharp focus because all his actions are keenly watched, be it selection of his new team or the way he carries out the RSS diktats in running the party. So far, he had been carrying his predecessor Advani’s team. From now onwards Mr Singh is expected to takes independent decisions even though Mr Advani feels that he had been reduced to a ‘consultant’. The party may have decided to gloss over these statements, but it will be difficult to get over the sting.

On the price front, the BJP wants to put the UPA on the mat for its inability to check the rise in prices of essential commodities especially with the agricultural sector faltering on wheat production. The Government’s inability to help and prevent farmers commiting suicides in Mahrashtra, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and other states will come in handy for pricking a hole in the UPA claims.

The BJP has concerns about Indo-US Nuclear deal which is otherwise known as 123 agreement especially after the passage of the Bill at the U S Congress to enable the U S Administration to conclude the Agreement with India. While the Government wants to project this as an end of ‘nuclear apartheid’, the party wants to show how this would impede the nation’s security as well as its research and development.

BJP leader Arun Shourie has already been record that if the deal goes through, it would mean India will be placing 14 of its reactors to intrusive inspections by the International Atomic Energy Agency while it has access to only 11 reactors belonging to members of the nuclear club. India will be commiting itself to a much intrusive regime than envisioned by NPT and CTBT regimes with no exit clause, the party think tank has apprehended.

While the Congress and Samajwadi Party may try to cash in on the delayed hanging of Mohammad Afzal, convicted to death sentence by Supreme Court in the December 13, Parliament attack five years ago, the party would like to expose the motives and intentions of wooing the minority votes behind the delay in hanging Afzal. The BJP is always crying hoarse about the UPA handling terror with kid gloves for the sake of offending the sentiments of Muslim voters.

The big turnaround by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh ahead of his visit to Cuba describing Pakistan shortly after Mumbai serial blasts as a ‘victim of terror’ while the popular perception of that nation is of a terror perpetrator has angered many and for the BJP it has come as a boon for consolidation of majority communities votes in its favour.

Senior UP BJP leaders as well as from the Central leadership have had a review meeting on the arrangements with the party’s where BJP’s Chief Ministerial nominee Kalyan Singh and his team of the three-day event. (UNI)

HC to pronounce verdict in Jessica Lall
murder case on Monday

NEW DELHI, Dec 17: The Delhi High Court will tomorrow pronounce its verdict in the Jessica Lall murder case that was re-opened following the police appeal challenging the acquittal of all nine accused including Sidharth Vashisht alias Manu Sharma by a lower court.

A bench of Justices R S Sodhi and P K Bhasin, which reserved its order after hearing arguments from the defence and prosecution on November 29 after a day-to-day hearing over 25 days, is set to give its verdict at 2pm on Monday.

Appearing for Delhi Police, Additional Solicitor General Gopal Subramanium said there was enough evidence to prove that it was Sharma who killed Jessica on the intervening night of April 29-30, 1999.

The statements of key witness Bina Ramani, her husband George Mailhot and daughter Malini, Subramanium said, clearly established the fact that Manu, who was in a white T-shirt and blue jeans, had fired the fatal shot at Jessica.

The bench should reject the statement of complainant and eyewitness Shyan Munshi as he was found to be a liar, he said.

Subramanium also asked the court to ignore ballistic reports, saying these were manipulated by Sharma’s family. In the first report submitted by Roop Singh, an expert opined that two empty catridges were fired from two different weapons, while expert P S Minocha said in the second report he would be able to give a decision after the suspected weapon was found.

Subramanium alleged the accused had made frantic calls to each other and to their families. The mobile and landline telephone details of the accused gives a clear picture of this.

The post-incident conduct of the accused should be taken into consideration, he said. Manu went underground and the other accused absconded for several days after the murder.

While Manu went underground for six days and surrendered before a court in Chandigarh, co-accused Vikas Yadav absconded and obtained interim bail from a court in Manipur, he said.

Countering the prosecution’s stand that Manu was the prime accused in the case, senior lawyer Ram Jethmalani denied his presence at the party where Jessica was killed. He said police falsely implicated Manu.

Jethmalani said "despite prosecution’s argument the case against Sharma is minus zero".

Bina Ramani and her family supported the prosecution as there was a threat from police that they would be booked under the Excise Act for running an illegal bar, Jethmalani argued.

He contended the Ramani family was harrassed until it supported the police against Manu and asked the court not to rely on their testimony.

Giving new twist to the case, Jethmalani said it was not Manu but a tall gentleman with a red turban was believed to have fired the shot that killed Jessica. She was killed not for denying to serve liquor to manu but because she had challenged the killer’s manlihood. Therefore, the motive was not liqor but something else, he claimed.

He emphasised the ballistic expert’s report and supported the statement by hostile witness Munshi. He also said the trial court’s order of acquittal was justified.

Accusing the prosecution of fabricating evidence, he said police planted some witnesses like Deepak Bhojwani as he was close to Jessica’s family.

Besides prime accused Manu Sharma, the son of former Haryana minister Venod Sharma, other accused are Vikas Yadav, the son of former Rajya Sabha MP D P Yadav, and Amardeep Singh Gill alias Tony Gill, an employee of a top soft drinks firm.

Two employees of Sharma’s company Piccadily Agro Industries, Alok Khanna and Harvinder Chopra, Manu’s uncle Shyanm Sunder Sharma, former cricketer Yog Raj Singh and friends Vikas Gill alias Ruby Gill and Raja Chopra are also accused in the case.

In the intervening night of April 29-30, 1999, Jessica was shot dead allegedly by Manu Sharma after she refused to serve him drinks at a restaurant owned by socialite Bina Ramani.

Manu, Vikas Yadav, Amardeep Singh Gill and Alok Khanna had gone to attend a party at the Qutub Colonade on the fateful night.

On February 21 this year, all the accused were acquitted by trial judge S L Bhayana, now a judge in the High Court. In March, Delhi Police filed their appeal in the High Court. (PTI)