Shayan Munshi appeals against trial

New Delhi: Bollywood actor Shyan Munshi today pleaded before the Delhi High Court not to prosecute him on charges of perjury for turning hostile in his deposition during the murder trial of ramp model Jessica Lall.

As the proceedings for prosecution of 31 hostile witnesses resumed before a division bench of justices S Ravindra Bhat and G P Mittal, Munshi's counsel Aman Lekhi pleaded before the court to discharge his client arguing that he cannot be termed hostile as even the apex court had used part of his deposition in convicting Congress leader Venod Shrama's son Manu Sharma and others for the crime.

"The Supreme Court did not discard Munshi's statement completely but accepted some portion of his testimony," Lekhi argued, while referring to the high court's December 2006 findings that it had issued the show cause notice to his client and other witnesses in public interest.