He was brave and determined to counter the cross-examination of the defence lawyers in his quest for justice for the death of his young son.

On Tuesday noon, Manoj Patel, father of budding cricketer Rajnis Patel, climbed the stairs of the sub-divisional judicial magistrate’s court at Alipore, a month after he had last appeared in the courtroom.

Rajnis Patel, 17, died at SSKM Hospital on June 2, 2003, in the wake of five botched surgeries in four months after he suffered a shin-bone fracture on the cricket field during a practice match.

However, Manoj Patel had no role to play in Tuesday’s proceedings, as defence lawyer Dipit Bose sought to raise a point over future proceedings of the case.

Bose, in his petition, told judge Manjit Singh that the defence council would prefer to hear all the 43 witnesses before its members cross-examine them.

“For proper determination of the issues and to extend a reasonable opportunity to the accused to defend themselves, the case merits a conversion of procedure from ‘summons’ — where a witness states the fact on his part, followed by cross-examination by the lawyers of the defence — to warrant — where all the witnesses appear one by one and state the facts, followed by cross-examination of each,” Bose said in his petition.

In response, senior public prosecutor Naba Kumar Ghosh argued that the entire procedure would be delayed if the suggestion was taken into account. “There are many witnesses in this case and the procedure will be lengthy if they are to be first presented in court one by one and then cross-examined,” he said.

Ghosh explained it would be easier if the court could consider dealing with one witness at a time. “It is always not possible for witnesses to appear whenever summoned. If we could hear them and cross-examine them simultaneously, the procedure would be quicker,” Ghosh added.

Judge Singh informed the court that he would declare on Wednesday noon the procedure to be followed.

The five accused doctors, who were waiting for the proceedings to start, left the court in a hurry once the judge adjourned the court, closely followed by the lawyers fighting on their behalf.

The day ended with a disheartened father leaving the courtroom with his relatives to inform Rajnis’ mother Munni Devi that they would have to go through another long wait before a progress is made.

“We have to fight for our son. However long the wait, we will live through it and we are certain we will get justice,” father Manoj Patel declared.