Gang-rape case: Court pulls up defence lawyer after he fails to appear citing 'health issues'

The fast track court trying the December 16 gang-rape case on Thursday again pulled up the defence lawyer for two of the accused for "stalling proceedings" as he failed to appear in the court citing health problems.

Mukesh and Akshay's advocate ML Sharma failed to turn up for the hearing, only sending a message to a court official that he was hospitalised and was being administered glucose.

Additional Sessions Judge Yogesh Khanna said, "Stalling the proceedings of the court is something very, very wrong... I'll have to take strict action."

However, "one more opportunity" was given to Sharma to appear before the court on Monday, April 1 — till when the matter was further posted by the court.

The judge further criticised Sharma for not informing the court directly if he was going to be absent.

Sharma was on Tuesday also pulled up by the court for delaying and disrupting proceedings. He had replaced VK Anand, who was earlier appearing for Ram Singh and his brother Mukesh, after the former was found dead in jail, having allegedly committed suicide.