J Dey trial: Court wants to hear the case daily

After a long adjournment, a witness (No. 6) in the J Dey murder case deposed in court on Thursday. He was the person who had drawn a map of the crime scene.

The 67-year-old consulting architect has been working for the Hiranandani Group since 2000. He told the court during examination by Public Prosecutor Dilip Shah that it was seven days after Dey's murder that a crime branch officer had asked him to draw the map of the spot were the murder had taken place.

"The police showed me the spot and accordingly I drew the map. The spot was at Hiranandani Complex. I prepared two maps, one consisted of the layout and the other was a detailed map. I handed over the sketches to the officer," said the witness.

During the cross-examination of the witness by defence advocate Avinash Rasal, the witness said that he charted the map on the basis of his knowledge. He said that the standard layout of the area where Dey was killed is easily available and anyone can procure it.

The witness also told the court, during cross-examination by defence lawyer Prakash Shetty that it was the crime branch officer who took him to the murder spot. "I have not taken any measurements on the spot. I have shown the details of the spot in my map as pointed out by the officer and as told to me," said the witness.

The court then asked prosecution to get another witness on the next day as the proceedings were supposed to proceed on a day-to-day basis. The crime branch officer told court that they want to continue the proceedings on Monday.

Judge A L Pansare asked the officer to give in writing as to why the matter cannot proceed on a day-to-day basis, as there is a Bombay High Court order to expedite the matter. The crime branch officer replied that the department has requested the government to transfer the trial to the CBI.