New Delhi: A court has renotified the recording of prosecution witnesses in the Shraddha Walkar murder case for Thursday, noting that police personnel across the city have been “deputed for law and order duties in New Delhi district” amid the ongoing protests over Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls.On Monday, inspector Sandeep moved an application seeking exemption from appearance, stating that he had been deputed for “law and order duty” at the protests in New Delhi district. The court allowed the application.The case relates to the 2022 murder of 27-year-old call centre employee Shraddha, allegedly by her live-in partner, Aaftab Poonawala.Earlier, additional sessions judge Harguravinder Singh Jaggi had permitted the prosecution to record the testimony of four foreign-based nodal officers of WhatsApp, Google and Bumble through videoconferencing under Electronic Evidence and Video Conferencing Rules, 2025.The witnesses are Adrian Silvera, nodal officer of WhatsApp LLC and Meta Platforms Inc; Shelby Smith and Arti Sheth, nodal officers of Google LLC and Gmail, respectively; and Luke Mitsi, nodal officer and law enforcement operations manager of Bumble Group. The court noted that videoconferencing would facilitate an expeditious trial.The court directed that their testimonies be recorded one witness per day, beginning Dec 1, in coordination with the prosecution, defence counsel and coordinators at the respective remote locations.“The summons shall specify the venue of the remote point, date, time, and requirement of identity proof,” the judge said. The remote points will be the nearest Indian embassy, high commission or consulate corresponding to the witnesses’ addresses. The state will bear all costs.The audio-visual recording, along with an encrypted master copy, will be preserved as part of the official judicial record. If the accused is in judicial custody and is not physically produced, a multi-point videoconference connecting the courtroom, remote location and jail must be established, with adequate opportunity for him to consult his counsel privately before and after the session.
