(1.) These appeals by special leave challenge the final judgment and order dated 27.06.2013 passed by the High Court 1 in Criminal Reference No.4 of 2013 and Criminal Appeal No.748 of 2013.
(2.) The relevant facts for the purposes of these appeals, in brief, are as under:
(3.) During the pendency of these appeals in this Court, it was observed by this Court in its Order dated 12.12.2018 as under:- "One of the issues that has arisen in the present case is compliance with the statutory timeframe fixed by proviso to Section 309(1)of the Cr.P.C.(as amended in 2018). That Section provides a time limit of 60 days within which the trial is supposed to be completed. In this context, we consider it appropriate to explore the possibility of using video-conferencing for the purpose of recording evidence since it is believed that such use will eliminate the time taken for summoning the witnesses to Court.