Neelam Katara v/s. Union of India
- Chetan Agarwal
- May 22, 2020
Content :
In the month of February, 2002 Mr. Nitish Katara son of the petitioner, Mrs. Neelam Katara went to Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh to attend a friend’s marriage. In this time, he was found to be lost and later a body was recovered. The incident was reported and was found that Mr. Vishal and Vikas Yadav had abducted Mr. Nitish Katara due to alleged affair with their sister Bharati Yadav. The accused was son of a sitting member of the Rajya Sabha. Later in the month of April, 2002 the U.P. Police had filed four-page charge sheet in the case and accordingly both accused were arrested in the same month from Madhya Pradesh.
In the trial process they were looming threat to the witness and this acted as a barricade in serving justice. Taking into consideration the real hardships faced by witnesses who are involved in high profile cases mostly involving accused from renowned backgrounds, the petition to formulate witness protection in the light of public importance was presented before the Court. This was presented in view of protecting the interest of the witness and to safeguard them against the possibility of the witness being harassed or intimidated at the hands of the accused or any accomplices with the accused. In this light the High Court had formulated certain guidelines to be termed as “Witness Protection Guidelines” until a suitable legislation was brought into effect. This guideline was formulated in the present case of Neelam Katara v. Union of India, which is popularly known as the Witness Protection Guidelines Case.
