Jessica case: Delhi govt defends key witness in police department

The Delhi government today defended in the Supreme Court its decision to appoint Shravan Kumar, a key witness in Jessica Lall murder case, in the Delhi police department even though he was "overaged" and academically "underqualified".

Responding to a query from a bench of justice P Sathasivam and justice Swatanter Kumar, solicitor genreral Gopal Subramaniam admitted Shravan Kumar (27) was neither a matriculate nor below the age of 21 years of age which are mandatory requirements for appointment to a police constable. He, however, defended the appointment, though improper, as a measure of rewarding him for his bravery.

"If there if one person who was able to speak the truth without fear, it was him (Shravan). He was the backbone of the investigations," the Solicitor General told the bench.

Shravan, while working as a homeguard, had tried to stop two other accused in the murder--Vikas Yadav and Amardeep Gill--from taking away the vehicle belonging to main convict Manu Sharma.

In his attempt to prevent the duo from escaping, he even broke the windscreens of the vehicle which formed a crucial piece of evidence for the Delhi high court to convict the accused.

The trial court verdict acquitting Sharma on February 21, 2006, was set aside by the high court on December 18, 2008, which awarded life imprisonment to Manu Sharma, son of veteran Haryana Congress leader Venod Sharma, in the killing of ramp model Jessica Lall. The accused had filed the appeal challenging their conviction.