The Saket court has listed the Shraddha Walkar murder case for day-to-day hearings starting July 20 to expedite the trial of accused Aftab Poonawala. The court also warned Aftab to get a new lawyer if the current one has time constraints.
The Saket court on Friday listed the Shraddha Walkar murder case for day-to-day hearings starting July 20 in a bid to expedite the trial proceedings in court.
Aftab Amin Poonawala is currently facing trial for allegedly murdering his live-in partner, Shraddha Walkar.
Additional Sessions Judge (ASJ) Hargurvarinder Singh Jaggi listed the matter for recording Prosecution evidence daily from July 20 to July 25. Thereafter, the dates for August will be decided.
There are eight Prosecution witnesses who are to be examined. 13 witnesses' chief evidence has been partly recorded, and there are 12 witnesses whose evidence was deferred.
This case has been pending since 2023.
During the hearing, the court recorded the evidence of Head Constable Deepak and discharged him for today after the Defence counsel sought time to go through a video connected with the case. He also showed his inability to argue daily due to other cases.
Court Considers Video Conferencing for Tech Witnesses
Special Public Prosecutor (SPP) submitted that three separate applications dated 24.12.2024, 17.02.2025 and 10.07.2025 seeking permission to record the evidence to witnesses Aarti Sheth, Nodal Officer, Google (Gmail), Luke Mitsi, Nodal Officer, Bumble, Shelby Smith, Nodal Officer-Google LLC and Adrian Silvera, Nodal Officer, WhatsApp LLC and Meta Platforms, Inc and Mr Brian Carl Corroll Nodal Officer, Hopper (USA) Inc. through video conference under Rule 6 of the High Court of Delhi Rules for video conferencing for Courts, 2021 are pending for filing of reply by the accused.
The court reserved order on these applications after defence counsel said that he doesn't with to file a reply. The court will pronounce order on June 1 at 4 PM.
Court Addresses Defence Counsel's Time Constraints
The court rejected his contention after hearing submissions of Special Public Prosecutor (SPP) Madhukar Pandey and advocate Seema Kushwaha, counsel for the complainant.
The court also told the accused, Aftab Amin Poonawala, to engage a new counsel if his present counsel is not able to argue his case due to time constraints.
Background of the Case
It is alleged that Shraddha Walkar was murdered by his friend Aftab Amin Poonawala in May 2022.
An FIR was lodged at the Mehrauli police station in November 2022.
It is alleged that Aftab threw the body parts of Shraddha in the jungle after the murder.
Shraddha's father, Vikas Walkar, died in 2025.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by Asianet Newsable English staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)