Chandigarh, Sept. 26 -- The Punjab and Haryana high court has upheld the decision of special CBI court Panchkula, allowing deposition through video-conferencing of a key-witness Hans Raj Chauhan in the case of alleged castration of followers involving Dera Sacha Sauda head Gurmeet Ram Rahim.

The CBI court had allowed Hans Raj to appear through VC and record his statement on August 2 after he had claimed threat to his life. However, the decision was challenged by one of the accused, Mahender Singh, a doctor arguing that the court is to observe the demeanor of the one deposing which cannot be possible by appearance through VC. Further, the presence in person cannot be replaced.

The court has dismissed the plea observing that in today's ag...