Ashutosh Srivastava, the lawyer of Siya Goyal, accused in the Ketan Aggarwal murder case, has raised such shocking questions which can overturn the entire case in the court. The lawyer said that the police has converted accidental death into murder.
Pune (Maharashtra): The lawyer of Siya Goyal, accused in the Ketan Aggarwal murder case, has given a big statement on Sunday. He said that any statement given in police custody is not valid as evidence. The lawyer also raised questions as to why the investigating agency changed the case from an accidental death to a murder investigation. He clearly said that he will raise this issue during the court proceedings.
Ketan murder case reaches new turn
Advocate Ashutosh Srivastava, appearing for Siya Goyal, spoke on the issue of the alleged confession, referring to the provisions of the Indian Evidence Act (BSA). He said, “I have also said earlier that what was earlier Section 25 of our Indian Evidence Act, is now Section 23 in our new law BSA (Indian Evidence Act). It clearly says that if an accused gives any statement under pressure or threat in police custody, then it cannot be considered as evidence at all in any criminal law, we will definitely raise this issue.
Sia’s lawyer said – police custody statement is not evidence
- The lawyer further said that if the prosecution has any more concrete evidence, it will have to be presented during the trial.
- Srivastava said, “Also, if the prosecution has any more evidence, they can present it as the case progresses. As I said earlier, the investigation is still going on and the charge sheet has not been filed yet, so we will have to wait.”
- Srivastava said that the focus of the defense will be on the allegations made in the FIR, the investigation conducted so far and the circumstances under which the case took a different turn.
- He said, “Our arguments will focus on the allegations made in the FIR and the investigation so far. We will also point out that our client Sia has fully cooperated in the investigation. We will argue that the prosecution has already got enough time, especially the police custody remand, to interrogate Sia or gather information. We do not feel that giving any more time is justified.” He further said that the defense will especially seek clarification on the changed stand of the prosecution.
How did the case change from accident to murder?
- The lawyer said, “We will argue on these grounds and present the facts related to the FIR: specifically, what happened that the prosecution or the investigating agency changed the case from an accidental death to a possible murder case. From the defence’s point of view, there is no compelling reason to proceed with this as a murder trial. We will discuss all these aspects tomorrow and seek judicial custody for our client so that the rest of the legal process can proceed.”
Crime scene recreated at Lohagarh Fort
- Today, Pune Police took accused Siya Goyal and Chetan Chaudhary to Lohagarh Fort near Pune to recreate the crime scene in the Ketan Agarwal murder case. A dummy equal to the victim’s weight was used to understand how the incident happened. DSP Gajanan Tonpe told ANI, “This morning, we brought Siya Goyal to the spot, and based on her version of events, the scene was recreated. We had made a dummy of the same weight as the victim Ketan for scene reconstruction.”
- Visuals obtained from the spot showed policemen taking the accused around in the fort area as part of the reconstruction.