Seer case: Chargesheets on websites questioned

Wednesday, February 2 2005

Kancheepuram (TN): Lawyers representing the accused in the Sankararaman murder case, today (Feb 2, 2005) alleged that the copies of over 1800 page chargesheet were available on the websites of two English dailies and wanted to know how the chargesheet, which is yet to be numbered, could be made available on the websites.

The clerical work involving it was yet to be over as the copy clerk was on 20-days leave, the lawyers told reporters today.

"Has the prosecution been empowered as a special case to prepare their own copies of the chargesheet," they asked adding copies said to be genuine chargesheets were available on the websites of two English dailies.

Darwin Wisdom, an advocate representing four of the accused in the case, said his petition seeking copies of statements made by co-accused was rejected by a judicial magistrate. However, he said not everybody could afford to take up the fight at the appellate courts on such constitutional rights issue.

Yet another advocate Revathi Vasudevan had protested to the magistrate about an officer of the special investigation team taking out a record from the court steel cupboard, "donated by the prosecution" to the Judicial Magistrate's court, as one key was available with the prosecution, while another was with the court.

The court staff should not have permitted this. "The prosecution has far greater chances of tampering with the records," the lawyers said.