India court stops Uber rape accused re-examining witnesses

Rules that the request by the accused to cross-examine victim was an 'abuse of judicial process'

NEW DELHI: India's top court on Thursday overturned a ruling allowing an Uber taxi driver charged with raping a passenger to re-examine 13 witnesses including the alleged victim.

Lawyers for Shiv Kumar Yadav, who replaced his defence team as his trial was coming to a close, had argued the recall was necessary because the original cross-examinations were "incompetent".

But the Supreme Court upheld a challenge from lawyers for the alleged victim, saying the request had been an "abuse of judicial process".

Read: Indian woman accuses Uber driver of sexual harassment

Yadav, 32, has pleaded not guilty to charges of rape, kidnap and criminal intimidation.

The ruling paves the way for the resumption of his trial, which began in January but has been on hold since March pending a Supreme Court ruling on the issue.

The case is being tried in one of the special courts introduced in 2013 to speed up rape trials, part of a package of measures that followed the fatal gang-rape of a student on a bus in New Delhi.

Read: Indian woman accuses Uber driver of sexual harassment

Uber was banned from the Indian capital after the alleged attack on the 25-year-old passenger last December.

The company, which connects passengers to drivers through a smartphone app, has resumed its Delhi operations, although authorities have not approved its licence application.