MUMBAI: Bombay High Court on Wednesday allowed the examination of one more witness by the defence in the Bilkis Bano case. The defence had moved the HC in October after its plea to examine three more witnesses was turned down by the sessions court.
Justice BH Marlapalle granted permission to examine the secretary to the collector of Dahod in Gujarat and directed the trial court to issue summons. The HC, however, refused permission to examine the other two witnesses — a nurse who was present when Bilkis was examined and an officer of National Human Rights Commission who had recorded her statement.
Defence advocate Abhijit Sarwate said that for the trial to be fair, the witnesses had to be examined. The defence will appeal to the trial court today to issue the summons.
The case was transferred to the HC following a Supreme Court directive. Bilkis Bano was allegedly raped by rioters post-Godhra carnage on March 3, 2002 and 14 members of her family had been murdered.
