Manisha, it may be recalled, had died on February 25, 1996, in an accident when she was returning from the district courts. In the complaint, I.P. Attri, the victim's father, stated that the accused allegedly killed her because she was not withdrawing a particular case being fought at the Kharar court.

The case, which had earlier been registered for rash driving got converted to one of murder after an inquiry was conducted by DSP S.S. Randhawa.

The prosecution witnesses examined today included Rajpal, a three-wheeler driver and one Ramesh Kumar. While the cross-examination of Rajpal was completed today, that of Ramesh was deferred till May 27.

Seven prosecution witnesses were earlier examined on April 19, 20 and 21, among whom were John Mohammad and Khusi Ram, both residents of Sector 23, who saw the accident from the front.

Rajpal had earlier stated that that on February 25, 1996, he was coming in his auto-rickshaw from the Dadumajra side, when he saw a blue Maruti approaching from the side of Batra chowk, at a speed of 70 km per hour. The car, he stated, abruptly turned towards Sector 23 and hit a scooter being driven by the victim. He added that the girl fell on the front screen of the car and remained lying on the bonnet. The car turned backwards and was then run over the girl. The witness had also added that the pillion rider (girl's mother) was thrown about 10 to 12 feet high in the air.

During cross-examination today, the witness said that it was wrong to suggest that the colour of the car was grey. He said that he had seen the two women coming on the scooter minutes before the impact, and they had not emerged from any lane. He said when he left the place the old lady was lying on the road and the girl about 16 feet away from her. The cross-examination of witness Ramesh Kumar was deferred. He had earlier deposed that on the said date at around 2 p.m. he was standing near an STD in Sector 24 adjacent to Balmiki Mandir, when he saw a blue Maruti coming from the side of Sector 16. The occupants were looking outside as if to see whether someone was coming from behind or not. The car, he said, abruptly turned and struck the scooter thus causing hurt to the two ladies coming on a scooter.