Srinagar: Kashmir High Court Bar Association Srinagar on Friday expressed surprise over the report submitted by the Bar Council of India before the Supreme Court, saying it was bound to embolden those lawyers who “impeded the course of justice and will threaten a fair trial of the case” related rape and murder of an eight year old nomadic girl at Rasana in Jammu region’s Kathua district in January this year.
“J&K High Court Bar Association Srinagar expressed its surprise over the report submitted by the Bar Council of India before the Supreme Court, saying that Kathua lawyers didn’t obstruct the Crime Branch in producing the police charge sheet against the accused involved in the kidnaping, rape and murder of an eight year old nomadic girl, before the CJM’s Court and nothing of the sort had happened over there and that the demand of Jammu and Kathua Bar Association seeking a CBI probe in the matter appears to be justified,” the KHCBA said in a statement issued here.
The lawyers’ body said that it feels that the fact finding team before submitting its report had neither gone through the press release of the Bar Association Kathua, in which it had admitted that the agitation of the Bar had proved successful as it was because of it that the Crime Branch was compelled to go back and the challan count not be presented in the court of the CJM, Kathua at the time of presentation of challan before the Chief Judicial Magistrate during the court hours and that the accused had to be presented before CJM at his residence.
“The team, it appears, has also not seen the FIR registered by police against the Kathua lawyers, for preventing and obstructing the Crime Branch from producing the charge sheet against the accused in the CJM’s court and what effect their report will have on the investigation of that FIR. The team members have also not met the officials of the Crime Branch, who had gone to the court of CJM on that date to find out as to whether they or anyone of them was stopped and obstructed by the members of Kathua Bar Association in presenting the challan against the accused.”
The team members, the lawyers’ body said, have also not considered the videography of the event which must have been available with the police. “The members of the team should have been cautious and careful in submitting the report to the Supreme Court because as an autonomous body, it is obligatory on its part to lay down the standards of professional conduct and etiquette for lawyers. The report submitted by it is bound to embolden those lawyers, who have impeded the course of justice and will threaten a fair trial of the case.”
