Soumya’s father writes to CM over slow trial

MURDER CASE Prosecutor says trial ‘super speedy’; CM’S office says all is being done

NEW DELHI: Murdered journalist Soumya Vishwanathan’s father MK Viswanathan Wednesday expressed concern over the ‘slow pace of trial’ and ‘quality of effort’ put in by the public prosecutor in her daughter’s case and sought Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal’s intervention.

Soumya was murdered in south Delhi’s Vasant Vihar in 2008 when she was returning home from office. Delhi Police had arrested three men for the crime, who they said were also involved in the murder of another woman — Jigisha Ghosh — that took place six months before Soumya’s killing.

The letter from Soumya’s father comes six days after one of the accused in the case, Baljeet Singh Malik, had approached Delhi High Court seeking a speedy trial and a compensation of ₹1 crore for the prolonged delay. The ‘unusual step’ by Malik has received support from Soumya’s mother, Madhvi, who believed a speedy trial would ‘end up benefiting everyone’.

Malik has already been convicted and is serving a life term for the murder of Jigisha Ghosh.

In the 10 years since the arrests, “the court, the judge and the public prosecutor have changed more than once,” said Soumya’s father, MK Viswanathan, in his letter. “To make further mockery of this delay, the accused have now started moving higher courts to appeal against the slow pace at which this trial is proceeding,” he wrote.

Soumya’s father particularly hit out at public prosecutor, RK Gurjar, for being ‘unresponsive’ in sharing updates with the family, despite the ‘huge efforts’ put in by police and authorities.

MK Vishwanathan said Gurjar was ‘unlike’ the previous two public prosecutors. “He (Gurjar), once again, was absent from court on the last date hearing on February 2,” he wrote.

“It’s quite disheartening to see hearing-per-hearing, a meandering sense of apathy with which the proceedings are taking place,” said MK Vishwanathan, adding that the government’s interest i n getting j ustice decreased with waning media coverage of the case.

The father requested for a ‘significantly higher level of commitment’ from the public prosecutor, ‘both in presence and preparedness for each hearing’ and the appointment of a special prosecutor in case Gurjar was overburdened and unable to focus on the case.

Gurjar countered that the case was now being heard on a fortnightly basis instead of once in two-three months. “This is not a slow trial. Given how overloaded the lower courts are, this is a super-speedy trial,” said Gurjar.

The public prosecutor said he was ‘not liable’ to brief Soumya’s family about developments in the case.

“Why should I inform her family? They are not my boss. The case is between the government and the accused,” said Gurjar. He, however, said since the family had raised the issue, he would ask his subordinates to keep them updated.

Gurjar said he was overloaded as he was handling more than 450 cases, including the murder of businessman Ponty Chadha. “I am occupied with examining dozens of witnesses, scrutinising charge sheets, and often busy with work from morning to evening,” said Gurjar.

The chief minister’s office said, “The government is doing everything possible in the case. Whatever the victim’s family wants is being done”.

Soumya’s father, in turn, just hoped that the system would not let him down. “We have stayed extremely patient and supportive of the system till now,” he said.

Dear Mr. Kejriwal,

The trial under progress in Delhi’s Saket courts for the murder of our daughter, Soumya Viswanathan, is now in its tenth year. Over this period, there have been changes in courts, judges and public prosecutors more than once. To make further mockery of this delay in proceedings, even the accused have now started moving higher courts to appeal against the slow pace at which this trial is proceeding.

We are seriously concerned about, both the pace at which the trial is moving, as well as the quality of efforts being put behind the proceedings by prosecution. The recent change in the public prosecutor, has further raised our concerns on the same. He, once again, was absent from the court on the date of the last hearing (Feb 2nd). Unlike the first prosecutor on the case, the previous and the current PP have been unresponsive in giving any updates to our family on the progress.

Ten years ago, the police and the authorities had made huge efforts in making the arrests and putting together a strong case against the accused. With time we feel, as the media visibility of the case went down, so did the interest of the state in getting us justice. It’s quite disheartening to see hearing-after-hearing, a meandering sense of apathy with which the proceedings are taking place.

The Hon’ble judge, Ms. Sunena Sharma, has been considerate of the delay in this trial and has been kind enough g to allot hearing g dates at frequent q intervals.

But these dates continue to get wasted because of no-show of either lawyers or witnesses or both. Even she expressed her frustration during the last hearing, about the absence of lawyers on the hearing date.

We request for your kind intervention to help with the following

A significantly higher level of commitment from the public prosecutor, both in presence and preparedness for each hearing. We urge you to help us get the best possible prosecution talent appointed to this case.

In case the current PP is overloaded or unable to focus on this case for any reason, please appoint a special prosecutor to help move things along

1. 2. 3.

Request the public prosecutor to be responsive to us, in providing periodic updates on the case, since we are no longer based full time in Delhi.

We wish you never have to go g through g what we have for the past ten years. While the court’s verdict cannot bring our daughter back, the least we expect from our judicial system is to do what it’s designed to do – get her justice. We have stayed extremely patient and supportive of the system all this while, and sincerely hope the system would not let us down.

Hollow assurances from authorities have tired us out and we sincerely hope for a concrete response from you at the earliest.

Why should I inform her family? I am not liable... They are not my boss… This is not a slow trial. Given how overloaded lower courts are, this is a super speedy trial. The government is doing everything possible in the (Soumya Vishwanathan murder) case. Whatever the victim’s family wants is being done,

Best regards

MK Viswanathan (Father of Soumya Viswanathan) CC: Ministry of Home affairs, Delhi