Shraddha Murder Case: After citing career growth, Aftab Poonawala expresses unawareness about bail plea; next hearing on Dec 22

Shraddha Case Latest Update: A day after Aftab Poonawala filed his bail application before a Delhi court, he surprisingly expressed unawareness about his bail plea in the court. According to reports, Poonawala even said that the application was moved erroneously. However, his lawyer claimed that Poonawala was making the statement under pressure.

Aftab Amin Poonawala was arrested last month based on his confession of killing Shraddha Walkar. He is accused of chopping her body into 35 pieces and disposing it of at multiple locations. Poonawala kept the body parts in a 300-litre refrigerator for almost three weeks at his residence in south Delhi's Mehrauli, before dumping those across the city over several days. He is currently lodged in Delhi' Tihar jail.

Poonawala today informed the court that he had signed the vakalatnama but was not aware that a bail petition would be filed on his behalf. The accused appeared before Additional Sessions Judge Vrinda Kumari through video-conferencing.

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"I would like the counsel to talk to me and then withdraw the bail plea," Poonawala said, replying to an inquiry by the judge on whether he intended to withdraw the application.

The judge said the bail application would be kept pending and only after the accused meets the counsel, it would be decided whether the plea would be pressed or not. The court posted the matter for further proceedings on December 22.

The Delhi Police was represented by Special Public Prosecutor Amit Prasad while advocate Seema Kushwaha represented Shraddha Walkar's father in the court today. 

Poonawala's lawyer had earlier said that since the initial investigation in the case is complete and the chargesheet is yet to be filed, there is no purpose in keeping the accused in judicial custody. On December 9, Poonawala's judicial custody was extended by 14 days.