Appearing for Vishal before the bench of justices Gita Mittal and J R Midha, senior advocate Ram Jethmalani sought the court to reject the prosecution's claim that Vishal had kidnapped Katara with an intention to kill because he was allegedly against the victim's intimacy with his cousin Bharti Yadav.
"There is no element of abetment. The prosecution has failed to produce any evidence against Vishal to establish his presence and participation in the offence," said Jethmalani.
Referring to the testimony of a prosecution witness, the noted lawyer said the witness had spoken to the victim in the late night and the victim had said he was at his institute IMT, Ghaziabad which means the victim was not under any threat.
"The prosecution's claim is based on the hearsay and it demolishes the theory of kidnapping. He (Katara) did not say in the conversation that he was under threat or anything," the lawyer said.
The lawyer will continue tomorrow his further argument on the appeals filed by Vishal and his cousin Vikas against their conviction by trial court.
The Yadavs were convicted in 2008 by the trial court for kidnapping and later murdering Nitish Katara, son of an IAS officer, as they were against his affair with their sister Bharati Yadav.
The duo had killed Katara on the intervening night 16-17 February, 2002, after abducting him from a marriage party in Uttar Pradesh's Ghaziabad.