Additional Sessions Judge (ASJ) Reena Singh Nag took strong umbrage to the fact that despite the DCP being asked on the last date to ensure the Investigating Officer's (IO) presence before her on Wednesday, neither was there any intimation received from his office nor was any trace of the IO during the hearing.

Terming the department's neglect of the court's directive as "unfortunate", the ASJ said that since the DCP has "not bothered" to make certain the compliance of the order, he should be called in person along with the explanation in this regard.

The case involves Mohd Usman and his wife Ishrat Jahan as the accused. While Usman was charged with illegally confining and raping a 23-year-old woman in November 2005, his wife has been booked for abetting the crime.

As the IO Vijay Gupta, who has reportedly been suspended in connection with a different matter, repeatedly failed to produce the victim before the court for recording her statement. The trial had got virtually halted and the ASJ kept on passing necessary directions to the IO for tracing the victim.

The IO had also not furnished the victim's permanent address on any of the court records.

Later on, the DCP was asked to ensure his presence in the court along with the victim. However, there was no response even from the DCP office, prompting the court to seek the senior official's personal appearance.