Court Opens Delhi Gang Rape Trial to Press

Anindito Mukherjee/European Pressphoto Agency V.K. Anand, the lawyer who was representing Delhi gang rape accused Ram Singh, speaking to media in New Delhi on March 11.

NEW DELHIâ€" The Delhi High Court ruled on Friday that reporters can now start attending the trial of a gang rape case in the national capital.

The trial of five men who were charged with the rape and murder of a 23-year-old physiotherapy student, who later died from her injuries, has been one of the most closely watched legal proceedings in India’s recent history. But until Friday, the trial has been held “in-camera,” effectively barring reporters from attending hearings and also banning them from reporting details of the case. Some information has been slipped to the media from the defense lawyers, but it was one-sided and unreliable.

Friday’s court order allows one journalist from each media organization to attend the trial as long as reporters don’t publish the name of the gang rape victim or witnesses, said Meenakashi Lekhi, the lawyer who had pushed for the media gag order to be lifted.

“Media has acted with utmost responsibility,” she said, noting that no newspapers or news channels have published the name of the victim, even before the trial had started. “We need to allow them to do their job.”

In the latest developments in the gang rape trial, two of the remaining four defendants have changed lawyers.

Manohar Lal Sharma, a controversial advocate, is back representing the same defendant he had at the start of the trial, Mukesh, who goes by one name. Mr. Mukesh had earlier swapped Mr. Sharma for V.K. Anand, a lawyer who was representing his older brother, Ram Singh, the driver of the bus in which the young woman was fatally assaulted.

After Mr. Singh was found hanging in his jail cell last week, Mr. Mukesh has petitioned to have his previous lawyer, Mr. Sharma, back.

Mr. Sharma’s popularity appears to have spread further. Another defendant, Akshay Thakur, has also sought Mr. Sharma’s representation to replace A.P. Singh’s counsel.

Mr. Singh, the lawyer, is still representing one defendant, Vinay Sharma. On Friday, Mr. Singh sought bail for his client at the special fast-track court hearing in the case, arguing that his client is a student and needed to attend class.

“He will go to Indira Gandhi National Open University,” Mr. Singh told India Ink, before the trial hearing at 2 p.m.

After it was pointed out to him that the university offers correspondence courses, not classes, Mr. Singh said, “It’s a correspondence course but he must go to university to join it.”

The court rejected the bail application. It also declined to grant bail to Mr. Mukesh, which his lawyer had sought earlier this week.

A sixth defendant, who is a minor, is being tried before a juvenile board. The case has sparked widespread protests in India, and a bill that toughened punishment and criminalized a broader range of sexual crimes was passed by Parliament on Thursday.