KOTTAYAM: The Judicial First Class Magistrate Court in Pala, which is considering the rape case against Bishop Franco Mulakkal, head of Jalandhar Diocese, on Tuesday, posted it for July 16. The court, which is to commit the case to Principal Sessions Court, Kottayam, for commencing trial has temporarily withheld procedures after Franco’s lawyer demanded more documents, including statements of mahassar witnesses in the previous sitting.
Following this, the prosecution handed over copies of a few documents when the case was considered on Tuesday. At the same time, the prosecution filed a detailed note with regard to the request of Franco’s counsel seeking statements of some magistrates who are also arraigned as witnesses. The prosecution said the magistrates were mahassar witnesses and hence their statements were not recorded.
The prosecution also appr ised the court that copies of all documents except those protected by law, were handed over to the accused. “We had handed over copies of the charge sheet, statements and other related documents for verification of the accused when the Bishop appeared before the magistrate on May 10. Though we had given all records earlier, we once again handed over the copies to avoid a dispute,” said Jithesh J Babu, special public prosecutor in the case.