Defence in India murder trial raises fears of bail for de Wit
ANGRY SCENES erupted in a courtroom in India yesterday as again no witnesses appeared in court in the trial of the man accused of murdering Sarah Groves, increasing fears that he could be let out on bail.
The 24-year-old was found dead in India in 2013 and Dutchman Richard de Wit has been charged with her murder.
However, he denies the offence and the trial has become bogged down as witnesses refuse to appear.
The 130th court hearing was held yesterday in Srinagar.
Sarah’s father, Vic, has been gathering information on the case from the family’s legal representatives and the Foreign and Commonwealth Office.
Monday’s court day saw no progress due to a general strike, but that had ended.
Mr Groves said they had hoped progress would be made yesterday because Mr de Wit appeared in court.
‘Unfortunately, yet again, no witnesses showed up and the case could not proceed,’ he said.
‘This led to angry scenes in court instigated by the defence counsel and by the judge.’
The defence counsel had raised concerns that Mr de Wit was not receiving a fair trial and his right to ‘a speedy trial’ was being breached. Under such circumstances, he could be entitled to bail.
‘This was the first hint that the defence counsel saw a way out for Richard de Wit – one that would clearly be highly controversial and deeply upsetting if it should happen,’ said Mr Groves.
‘The real anger stemmed from the judge, who refused to accept any excuses from the prosecutor in respect of the lack of witnesses.
‘It quickly became apparent that there may have been, not only in respect of today’s hearing but also in respect of the many previous hearings when witnesses have failed to attend court, a serious breach of due process in respect of the issue and enforcement of warrants.’
Under Indian law it is an offence, contempt of court, to ignore warrants that are issued in respect of giving evidence in court and it has always been a cause for concern for the Groves family that no action had been taken against defaulters.
The judge has ordered a ‘show cause’ notice for the senior house officer, who is responsible for issuing and enforcing warrants, under which he must show the audit trail of each and every request for the issue and serving of warrants.
‘In other words, he is under investigation for non-compliance and must report back to the court with full details,’ said Mr Groves.
The next hearings are due to be held next week.
