Delhi HC dismisses Jethmalani's petition

He had filed a plea seeking transfer of the Jessica Lal case from Justice R S Sodhi’s court

NEW DELHI: The Delhi High Court has dismissed a petition seeking transfer of the Jessica Lall case from Justice R S Sodhi's court. Senior lawyer Ram Jethmalani, on behalf of his client Manu Sharma, had filed the petition following a media report that said Justice Sodhi had been approached by the Sharma family.

The division bench, comprising Justices RS Sodhi and PK Bhasin, hearing the Delhi police appeal against the acquittal of all accused in the case on February 2006, said, “The application is stale, repetitive and there was no basis to refuse ourselves from hearing the appeal.”

After the order, Manu Sharma’s counsel Ram Jethmalani sought adjournment of the hearing till
the next date and submitted that he have to consider his position in the case.

The court, however, refused to grant adjournment and said the hearing would go on uninterrupted. It granted Jethmalani one day to clear his position.

The court also refused to order any action against the paper that had carried the story on Justice Sodhi. The court lamented the report and advised the media to work within its limits.