Click to play videoNew Delhi: The Delhi High Court on Tuesday convicted Santosh Kumar Singh, accused of raping and killing law student Priyadarshini Mattoo in 1996.
Santosh, son of a former IPS officer, was convicted on both counts of rape and murder.
A bench comprising Justice R S Sodhi and Justice P K Bhasin said "the acquittal order passed by the trial judge in 1999 has shocked the conscience of the judiciary."
The Central Bureau of Investigation has asked for death penalty.
The Bench said it was considering giving Santosh either death or life sentence and fixed October 30 for hearing arguments on the point of sentence.
The court also ordered the CBI to take Singh, who was present in the court, into custody forthwith.
"The High Court has finally given his pronouncement on the case. There are two options that the court has at present – death penalty or life imprisonment. Now, the court has to decide whether this is the rarest of rare case or not. The CBI has said that since she was brutally murdered this case falls in the rarest of rare case. The matter has been adjourned till the October 30. Santosh Singh was present in court and has been taken into custody. The HC judge has set aside the trial court’s order as perverse. Justice has been delayed but it finally prevailed. Santosh Singh can appeal in the Supreme Court and it is upto the court to accept or reject his appeal," said Priyadarshini's lawyer B L Wali.
A long-drawn trial
The Priyadarshini Mattoo trial lasted for six years.
A retrial appeal, filed by the CBI in 2000, was taken on priority basis following a public outcry and media pressure.
The High Court, in the retrial hearing, had observed that CBI had committed a fraud by not keeping the case material in safe custody.
The CBI too had argued that the agency had recommended disciplinary action against two Delhi Police officers as they had failed to properly investigate the case.
On September 27, the HC bench reserved its final judgement on the case.
Mattoo lodged 11 complaints against Santosh
Mattoo, a Delhi University Law student, was raped and murdered at her Vasant Kunj residence in South Delhi on January 23, 1996.
Santosh Kumar Singh, son of J P Singh, the then Inspector-General of Police, Pondicherry began harassing Mattoo in January and February 1995.
In August, November and December that year he began stalking her, telephoning her at her residence and at a hospital where her mother had been admitted, and stopping her car and shouting at her.
Mattoo lodged 11 police complaints against him, following which, he apologised to her.
She was provided with a personal security officer by the police on the orders of the Deputy Commissioner of Police, but Santosh continued to harass her.
During the course of the trial, Santosh Singh's father J P Singh also served as joint commissioner of police in Delhi, the jurisdiction under which the crime was committed.
MATTOO CASE: WHAT WENT WRONG | |
 | Priyadarshini Mattoo's friends were stunned when they read the morning newspapers on January 24, 1996. Their friend, a 23-year-old law graduate, was brutally raped and murdered. The vivacious smile and the zeal towards life brutally cut short. |
| "She had a zest for life. She had the courage to stand up and fight for what is right," Priyadarshini's friend, Indu Jalali said. |
| Priyadarshini was allegedly murdered by her college senior Santosh Singh. She had complained in 1995 that Santosh, son of senior police officer JP Singh, was stalking and harassing her. |
| On the morning of January 23, Santosh entered Priyadarshini's uncle's house, in South Delhi. He had claimed that he come to strike a compromise with her over the police case. |
| Santosh then allegedly raped Priyadarshini and strangulated her with an electric wire before battering her face with his helmet. |
| Priyadarshini's body was found with 14 injuries. |
| The case went into trial and was soon handed over to the Central Bureau of Investigation |
| But all hopes of the Mattoo family were dashed when on December 3, 1999 the lower court set Santosh Singh free. |
| The only solace for the family was the judge’s observation that he knew that Santosh was the man who had committed the crime but was forced to acquit him due to lack of evidence, giving him the benefit of doubt. |
| The CBI appealed against the judgement in 2000 but till date not a single hearing has taken place and Priyadarshini's 70-year-old father continues his quest for justice. |
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