New Delhi, March 13: The likelihood of Delhi High Court ordering a retrial in the Jessica Lal murder case is remote while it hears the appeal filed by police, legal experts said.

The high court can, however, call for additional evidence while hearing the matter, criminal lawyer Ram Jethmalani said.

Jethmalani said retrial could be ordered only in a case with grave legal flaws in a trial and not in a case of acquittal on pure fact.

Even on additional proof, the court can seek only such evidence which “could not be secured with reasonable diligence” during the earlier trial, he added.

Senior advocate S.S. Gandhi, who has appeared in several high-profile criminal cases, also ruled out a retrial by the high court. The high court can remand the matter back for recording some additional evidence but there cannot be a retrial, he added.

Hundreds of cases end in acquittal and this is one of them, another lawyer said. The rights of those accused, who have already faced trial once, will also come into play.

Chances of a retrial are bleak as the apex court had made it clear that Best Bakery was a case of its kind and could not be cited as a precedent, several lawyers said.

Advocate Ashok Arora, however, felt that the high court could either convict the accused on circumstantial evidence, call for additional evidence or order a retrial.

But he said there was no need for retrial as there was strong circumstantial evidence and that alone could help set aside the trial court acquittals.

The prosecutors, who are also banking heavily on circumstantial evidence, have submitted that the trial court ignored the chain of evidence that was sufficient to establish the guilt of the accused.

Though three witnesses turned hostile, deposition by two other witnesses proved the presence of the accused at the party where Jessica was murdered, the prosecution said. Main accused Manu Sharma was seen entering and also rushing out of the party, it added.

A few other lawyers said the appeal by Delhi police did not put a bar on pleas for retrial like that in the Best Bakery case.

The victim’s family also has the option of moving a revision petition before the high court within 90 days of the trial court verdict.