Dropping out

Katara’s body, bludgeoned and burnt, was found later at Khurja. The Yadav brothers were arrested from Dabra railway station in Madhya Pradesh five days after the incident. They were chargesheeted on April 3, along with another accused Sukhdeo Pehalwan.

Then began the courtroom battle, that is yet to be resolved.

WHEN Vikas Yadav was arrested, he was already facing trial in the Jessica Lal murder case. But this time the UP police thought they had a damning indictment: Bharti Yadav’s testimony that she was in a relationship with Katara and her brothers objected to it.

Nitish’s mother, Neelam had said Bharti had mailed her about the incident, and had also pleaded over the phone with Vikas to let Nitish go.

Then came the turnaround. On March 2, 2002, Bharti told Ghaziabad investigators that she had sent no such mail or made such a call. She would later deny that she had written the signed statement which the police were to show during the trial.

The defence made the case that the police had planted the hammer found near Nitish’s body that had allegedly been used in bludgeoning Katara.

The case has dragged on and most prosecution witnesses have turned hostile. Meanwhile, Bharti Yadav left for the UK to study. The court of additional sessions judge D S Panweriya sent summons to Yadav to appear and depose. But on the first few summons there was no response and Bharti was not traceable.

Meanwhile, the Yadav brothers filed a plea requesting that Bharti be allowed to depose via video-conferencing. Vikas Yadav even offered to foot the bill. The plea was however rejected by the court, pointing out that Bharti needed to be cross-examined in court.

Repeated summons however could not get Bharti back. Since Bharti is a witness and not wanted by the British police, the summons could not be executed.

Finally, in a move this April that has virtually crippled the prosecution’s case, it decided to drop Bharti as witness.

THE Kataras, understandably are angry. ‘‘This move could act as a precedent. A key witness, for whatever reason, could go abroad and there would be no mechanism to bring him or her back,’’ says Neelam Katara. She has declared that she would, if required, approach the External Affairs Ministry to get Yadav’s passport revoked.

Shortly after the prosecution dropped Bharti as a witness, Delhi High Court Judge HR Malhotra, acting on a petition by Neelam Katara, issued notices to the state government and the accused on the issue.

Both Vikas, Vishal and their accomplice are in Tihar. The court of the additional sessions judge has rejected their bail pleas. As the trial continues, the question remains on how much of a difference Bharti Yadav’s testimony would have made to the outcome of the case.

The possibility of Bharti being forced to return to India to depose seems little. Even if she does depose, there is little likelihood that she will support her earlier statement to the police, indicting her brother. ‘‘However, if we can only bring her back and tell the court what actually happened that night between her, Nitish, Vikas and Vishal, some of the facts might come out,’’ Neelam Katara hopes.