Click to play videoNew Delhi: The Delhi High Court on Monday stayed the extradition of NRI Maninder Pal Singh Kohli in the Hannah Claire Foster rape and murder case.
HC said the next hearing of the case would be held on July 6.
Kohli had challenged the extradition order of the lower court, which had allowed the extradition on June 8 in Delhi HC.
The earlier order, passed by the Patiala House court, had come after a prolonged trial, which had begun in September 2004.
Kohli has been in custody for over two-and-a-half years after his arrest on July 14, 2004 at Kalimpong in West Bengal. Opposing the extradition proceedings, which began in September 2004, Kohli had said that he was merely a suspect in the case.
With Monday's order, the relentless battle for justice for Hannah’s parents Trevor and Hillary Foster has only got tougher.
The couple had expressed relief and thanked the judiciary following the June 8 order.
"We are delighted with the news. It was a long wait of three years," Hillary Foster, Hannah's mother, had told CNN-IBN in her first reaction to the verdict.
The body of Hannah, who was abducted near her home in Southampton, was found two days after her abduction on March 14, 2003. Post-mortem revealed that the girl was raped before being strangled.
Kohli, who was an NRI, fled to India soon after he was identified as the prime suspect and was arrested in 2004.
(For updates you can share with your friends, follow IBNLive on Facebook, Twitter and Google+)
displayed with permission. Use of the CNN name and/or logo on or as part of CNN-IBN does not derogate from the intellectual property rights of Cable News Network in respect of them.