On Delhi Police plea, court notice to news channel on Shraddha Walkar case

Aftab Poonawala planned to dispose of Shraddha Walkar’s belongings to make it appear that she had broken up with him and had left with her possessions

NEW DELHI: A Delhi court on Monday told private television channel Aaj Tak to put on hold any proposed telecast of material related to the Shraddha Walkar murder case following an application by the Delhi police which complained that the channel might put out details of accused Aaftab Poonawala’s narcoanalysis test.

The Delhi police argued that putting out a recording or transcript of Aftab Poonawala’s narcoanalysis conducted in November would not only hurt the prosecution’s case but also the sentiments of the families of the accused and the victim (File Photo)

The city police argued that putting out a recording or transcript of the forensic examination conducted in November would not only hurt the prosecution’s case but also hurt the sentiments of the families of the accused and the victim, Shraddha Walkar.

Poonawala allegedly murdered Shraddha Walkar in May 2022, used a saw and other weapons to dismember her body, stored the body parts in a freshly purchased refrigerator, and later disposed of the body parts in Delhi’s jungle areas over weeks.

Additional sessions judge Rakesh Kumar Singh told the police to serve a copy of its request on the television channel, underlining that the channel needed to be heard at length as well.

“I am of the view the application needs to be heard at length not only from the side of the State but also from the side of Aaj Tak news channel For this, let the State serve a copy of application on the Aaj Tak channel (by the name of company) which shall be at liberty to file a response,” the judge said.

“This court is of the view that till the next date, Aaj Tak news channel shall not utilize in any form any material related to FIR No. 659/2022, PS Mehrauli,” the court said, noting that the release of sensitive information will have “psychological repercussions” on the accused and the victim’s family

The court listed the next hearing on April 17.

Poonawala, 28, and Walkar, 27, both originally from Vasai near Mumbai, moved to Delhi in May 2022. In its 6,629-page charge sheet filed in January this year, police said Poonawala was of an “aggressive nature” and used to beat Walkar for petty issues, and that though Walkar wanted to end the relationship, she could not as she had no contact with her father or brother. Shraddha sought counselling through the Practo app to cope with her situation.