Greater Noida, Jan. 9 -- The wife of Mohammad Ikhlaq appeared before a fast-track court (FTC) in Greater Noida on Thursday to record her statement, but the proceedings in the 2015 lynching case were adjourned till January 23 after the defence informed the court that transfer and revision applications had been filed before judicial authorities. As the hearing began in the court of additional district judge Saurabh Dwivedi, counsel for the accused, Dinesh Kumar, told the court that a transfer application had been moved before district judge of Gautam Budh Nagar under "compelling grounds". He also informed the court that a revision application had been filed before the Allahabad High Court against the FTC's December 23 order, in which it had rejected the Uttar Pradesh government's plea to withdraw the case. In the order, the FTC had termed the lynching a "serious crime against society" and held that no grounds existed to justify withdrawal of prosecution. Kumar pointed to delays in recording witness statements over the last four years. Kumar alleged that the case was being pursued with political motives. "This case is not being handled as a criminal matter, but as a political vendetta," he argued, urging the court not to proceed with the trial until the transfer application was decided by the district judge. Opposing the defence's submissions, advocate Andleeb Naqvi, appearing for Ikhlaq's family, said past delays could not be used to justify further postponement. "The defence elaborates on the number of days, but all this is a matter of the past. We can't indulge in the argument that if you delayed the proceedings earlier, now I have a right to delay," he said. Naqvi further submitted that, politically, it appeared the public prosecutor and the defence counsel were acting together behind the scenes, which, he said, had a direct bearing on the victim's family. "When you say there is some politics behind it, I don't know, but it seems that the state is acting as if it is counsel for the accused." He added, "I am the deceased. I am the victim. I have to defend myself now. I am fighting against the system, and I have only hope from the court." While adjourning the matter, judge Dwivedi referred to a Supreme Court judgment in P K Ghosh, IAS vs J G Rajput, as well as an Allahabad High Court ruling that cited Supreme Court observations on transfer petitions. Ikhlaq, 55, was lynched by a mob in Bisada village on September 28, 2015, following rumours that his family had stored beef at home....