Hearing in Aditya Sachdeva murder case concludes, verdict in early September likely

The defence for main accused Rakesh Ranjan Yadav alias Rocky Yadav, on Thursday, concluded its arguments in the Gaya school boy Aditya Sachdeva murder case, questioning the prosecution attempt to prove their charges against the accused on the basis of the FSL reports and the call details records.

Rocky is accused of murdering class 12 Gaya student Aditya, 19, in May 2016 allegedly after he was enraged over the school boy’s car overtaking Yadav’s SUV on the road linking Gaya with Bodh Gaya, some 14 km away, where Sachdeva had gone with his friends to attend a birthday party.

Rocky’s cousin Teni Yadav, his father Bindi Yadav and his lawmaker mother Manorama Devi’s bodyguard Rajesh Kumar are the other accused in the teenager’s murder case.

As the prosecution in the case has already concluded its arguments and examined the witnesses, the court of ADJ-1 Sachidanand Singh decided to seek law points and their legal implications from both the defence and the prosecution, on Friday.

Thereafter, judgment in the case is likely in the first week of September, according to prosecution sources.

Earlier, during the hearing on Thursday, senior defence counsel from the Supreme Court Surendra Prasad disputed the claim of the prosecution that the FSL reports and the CDRs had served to establish the case against the accused.

Prasad told the court that the FSL and CDR evidence was not sufficient to prove the charges levelled against the accused persons in the police charge sheet. He said the police and the prosecution had produced in court CDRs of 18 mobile phones of which none was registered in the name of any of the accused.

While disputing the FSL reports, the defence counsel said the FSL report had no specific date of shots being fired from the same pistol. Whether it was fired on May 7, 2016 (date of the murder) or on some other day, was not clear in the FSL report, he pointed out.

While arguing on behalf of Bindi Yadav, who has been charged with hatching a conspiracy to destroy evidence, the defence counsel claimed that Bindi Yadav never tried to conceal the facts. The police had recovered the imported car (used by Rocky) from his residence and in his presence.

“Had he ever thought of destroying the evidence, the car would not have been recovered. Besides, it was Bindi Yadav who ensured the surrender of his son Rocky Yadav and also cooperated in the investigation”, the counsel said, urging the court to pass a verdict only on merits in the case. 

District public prosecutor Sartaj Ali Khan confirmed the defence arguments had concluded and said that the case would be on judgment after Friday. “As both the prosecution and the defence have completed their arguments, the court will now seek legal opinion and discuss the law points raised by the two sides”, he said.

Thereafter, the court may choose any day to deliver its judgement.