New Delhi: “The complainant not only lost her brother, but you took away her right to conduct the last rites,” a Delhi court observed Saturday, rebuking Gurgaon Police over the delayed uploading of ZIPNET details of the recovery and cremation of Delhi-based real estate executive Yuvraj Singh Manchanda’s body.Judicial magistrate First class Rahul Jain questioned sub-inspector Chandgi Ram of Badshahpur police station over the sequence of events leading to the cremation and sought an explanation for the delay in updating the portal.The court was hearing a plea by Manchanda’s sister, Harsimran, through senior advocate Amit Prasad and advocates Neharika Kushwah and Ayodhya Prasad, seeking preservation and production of records and digital material related to his death. The court reserved its order for Monday.Expressing dismay over the “shocking state of affairs”, Jain questioned the SI about why the nearest executive magistrate or sub-divisional magistrate was not informed on the second day after the recovery for inquest proceedings of the unidentified body.The judge also questioned the cremation of the body along with Manchanda’s belongings after the counsel submitted that a burnt watch and kada were recovered from the site. “How can a body be cremated along with the belongings? Is this how you normally operate?” the court asked.Referring to the delay in updating details on ZIPNET, the portal used by police in the northern region to share information on missing persons and unidentified bodies, the court asked Gurgaon Police, “How were you to carry out the identification process after the body had been cremated?” The SI replied, “Doctor ne jo kiya kiya (The doctor who conducted the postmortem did everything).”The petitioner alleged that the police actions amounted to destruction of evidence and were intended to “save the culprits”. The counsel argued that the court had ancillary powers to issue directions regarding the handling of the body.The court flagged the absence of postmortem videography and discrepancies between two postmortem reports, one mentioning bullet injuries and the other attributing the cause of death to asphyxiation due to antemortem drowning. “How can you arrive at such different conclusions?” it asked.The judge also took note of the submission that the viscera had not been preserved during the postmortem.According to Delhi Police, Manchanda was last seen by his sisters on Sept 6 when he left for a meeting in Gurgaon. Delhi Police said he was murdered the same night by his former colleague Anya Vats and her partner, Sanyam Sachdeva. They have been remanded in 14-day judicial custody.
