A Delhi court said a Special Public Prosecutor (SPP) in a Northeast Delhi riots case has not appeared for the past 10 months and imposed a fine on the state, directing the Police Commissioner to conduct an inquiry to fix responsibility for the imposition of costs. Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Arun Kumar Garg imposed a fine of Rs 3,000 after an adjournment request was made during a hearing in a riots case due to the unavailability of the SPP. The court was slated to hear arguments on charges. The judge, while allowing request for adjournment, said the SPP has not appeared “even once” since the date of filing of the chargesheet on January 30, 2021. “Request for adjournment is allowed subject to cost of Rs 3,000, to be deposited by the state in the court,” the court said. “This court is not oblivious of the fact that burden of the cost shall fall on the public exchequer and hence I deem it appropriate to direct Commissioner of Police Delhi to conduct an inquiry for fixing the responsibility for the imposition of the cost and to order deduction of same from the salary of the person responsible,” the court said. ENS
