Varnika Kundu stalking case: Finish cross-examination before Jan 11, says Punjab and Haryana High Court to trial court

Punjab and Haryana High Court

THE PUNJAB and Haryana High Court asked the trial court on Wednesday to conclude the cross-examination of Varnika Kundu before January 11 while adjourning the hearing on the bail plea of Vikas Barala, who has been booked for stalking and attempting to abduct her.
During the resumed hearing of the case, Justice Lisa Gill also ordered that the call records of Varnika and her father V S Kundu be given to the accused party. The lawyers, representing Vikas, informed the bench that despite a trial court order, the authorities were yet to give them the call records.

Vikas has sought regular bail in the High Court in the case, saying he had been behind bars for over four months now and has opposed the charges of attempted abduction against him.

Stating that the “political opponents” of his father Subhash Barala, president of the Haryana BJP, by targeting him (his son) are “using various tactics to bring disrepute to him”, Vikas in his plea said, “The hype created by the media and the undue publicity given to the case mounted such pressure upon the investigating agency that it has added offences, the ingredients of which are wrongfully missing.”
Vikas in the plea filed last month has also alleged that the FIR in the case is the “brainchild of legal advice solicited by the complainant and her family” and claimed that that there was “no reference to the allegation” that the windshield was banged or an attempt had been made to open the door of the car during her conversation with the police on phone.