“Once a case is adjourned, it gets listed for next hearing after six months and in cases even after a year,” says Ranjit Kumar, adding that adjournments take place because of the absence of lawyers, the public prosecutor or even, at times, judges.
In sessions courts, where rape cases are tried, Ranjit Kumar says judges go by the roster of cases; no preference is attached to any case.
Eminent counsel Fali Nariman offers another reason for delay: Inadequacy of forensic labs for examining samples collected from the site of the crime.
“The medical and forensic examination reports take a long time to come and Delhi has no forensic lab,” says Nariman, adding that in the absence of forensic labs, samples go either to Chandigarh or Nagpur for testing.
Underlining the significance of forensic examination of samples, Nariman says: “Without a forensic report, there can be no charge sheet and without the forensic report, there can be no conviction.”
