The Orissa High Court has declined to transfer the trial of an acid-attack case from Parlakhemundi to Berhampur, finding no substance in the accused’s allegations of obstruction and intimidation by the local Bar, which the Registrar’s report and the informant contradicted. To address the accused’s concern that the presence of Bar members created an intimidating atmosphere, the Court directed that the trial be conducted in camera and concluded expeditiously, in line with the Supreme Court’s time-bound directions for acid-attack cases in Shaheen Malik.
