PTI
New Delhi, Nov 5: Noted lawyer Ram Jethmalani on Friday moved the Delhi High Court seeking transfer of the Jessica Lall murder case from Justice R S Sodhi's bench.
A division bench of Justice R S Sodhi and Justice P K Bhasin issued notice on his application to the state and fixed the matter for hearing on Tuesday.
In the application, Jethmalani also sought initiation of contempt proceedings against a newspaper, which carried a story saying Justice Sodhi in 2002 recused from hearing prime accused Manu Sharma's bail application as he was approached on behalf of Sharma.
Jethmalani, who has had to face a lot of criticism following his decision to take up the case of Manu Sharma, told the HC that a vicious media campaign and trial was going on against his client.
“There was a newspaper article accusing Manu Sharma of trying to influence Justice Sodhi. Manu Sharma will be acquitted, no matter what the press or the police say. Then people will say he was acquitted because the judge was corrupt," Jethmalani said.
Justice R S Sodhi is a part of the division bench that is hearing the Jessica Lall case.
The bench, which also comprises Justice P K Bhasin, had last week sentenced Santosh Singh to death for the rape and murder of Priyadarshini Mattoo.
While taking up the case of Manu Sharma, Jethmalani, who is considered to be one of the finest criminal lawyers in the country, had said, "The case is not only a big zero, but it's even below zero".
"What is going on is a media trial and the press is creating a hype in the case," he said.
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