Another day passed fruitlessly in the Rajnis Patel death case as the lawyers for the five accused doctors preferred to hold ‘academic discussions’ on procedural details while Manoj Patel, father of the 17-year-old budding cricketer, stood with hands folded in a corner of the courtroom.

Lawyer Amitava Ganguly urged Alipore court sub-judicial magistrate Manjit Singh to reserve his order on the procedure that the case would follow for Thursday, ensuring another a day’s wait for the Patel family.

At the start of proceedings on Wednesday, judge Singh asked the defence council if its members had anything to say before he delivered his order on the procedure the case would follow, in response to a petition filed by them on Tuesday.

Lawyer Ganguly sought a further hearing on the issue before the judge pronounced his order.

Ganguly said that according to Section 259 of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC), the summons procedure based on a police report can be converted into warrant procedure instituted on a complaint. “I would like you to consider my prayer, as it would help the accused,” Ganguly said.

In response, the judge pointed out that the summons procedure cannot be converted into a warrant procedure, as it would be “grossly illegal”.

“I have gone through all available legal options and I am not convinced that your plea can be granted, simply because the warrant procedure based on a complaint cannot be included as part of a case that was started on the basis of a police report,” the judge said.

However, he asked public prosecutor Naba Kumar Ghosh if he would contest the court’s agreeing to look into the defence council plea. Ghosh made it clear that he would prefer to follow the ongoing procedure. “I would certainly be happy with the way the case is progressing, as it would take less time,” Ghosh said.

The hour-long proceedings witnessed several attempts on the part of the defence team to get an order in their favour. At the end of the session, judge Singh was prepared to read out his order when the defence council pleaded for more time. Singh obliged, before adjourning the hearing till Thursday noon.