Kanjhawala hit and drag case: Accused gets bail

NEW DELHI:  A Delhi court has granted bail to Deepak Khanna, an accused in the Kanjhawala case in which a 20-year-old woman was dragged to death under a car on New Year’s Day.

The court said the allegations against Khanna did not reveal that he was “in conspiracy with” other accused persons for the offence of murder and that in case of bailable offences, the relief has to be granted mandatorily and not as a matter of concession. “…the application is allowed and the applicant or accused is admitted to bail on furnishing of a bond in the sum of `25,000 with one surety in the like amount…,” said ASJ Neeraj Gaur said in an order.
“The allegations against the accused do not reveal that he was in conspiracy with other accused persons for the graver offence under Section 302 (murder) of the IPC,” he said.

He said the charge sheet against Khanna included Sections 201 (causing disappearance of evidence of offence), 212 (harbouring offender) and 182 (false information, with intent to cause public servant to use his power to the injury of another person) of the IPC.

The court asked the accused to not tamper with evidence or try to influence witnesses directly or indirectly, and intimate the court in the case of a change in his residential address. “It was found that the accused Amit Khanna was not holding any valid driving license. Therefore, his cousin, accused Deepak Khanna, initially came forward and falsely projected himself to the police that it was he who was driving the offending car,” the judge said, citing the charge sheet.