BCI panel to file report on Kathua

NEW DELHI: A five-member committee of the Bar Council of India (BCI) will visit Kathua in Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) and submit a report on the gang rape and murder of a minor girl in January after seeking time from the Supreme Court on April 19, BCI president Manan Mishra said on Sunday.

The fact-finding team will have former BCI chief Tarun Agarwal, co-chairmen S Prabakaran and Ramachandra G Shah, and members Razia Beig of the bar council of Uttarakhand and Naresh Dikshit, an advocate.

They will visit the state and reach out to office-bearers of the bar associations of Jammu and Kathua and also meet the affected families and locals to figure out what transpired, Mishra told reporters here.

He said that the BCI, in its Friday meeting, had decided to dispatch the team to Kathua on April 20.

“I have communicated this to the president of bar associations of Jammu and Kathua. I was given full assurance of an immediate end to the lawyers strike and of full cooperation to the visiting BCI team,” he said.

Mishra claimed that the BCI was told that the reason behind the lawyers’ protests in Jammu was not to defend the accused but were instead focused against certain laws passed by the J&K government.

He said if the committee finds misconduct on the part of the lawyers, the BCI has the authority to cancel the licences of those involved. “In case some outsiders, not associated with the bar council, are involved in creating a controversy, we may not be able to take action against such

persons. Our jurisdiction is limited to bar council members only. If we find them responsible for obstructing the legal process, we will definitely take action ...” he added.

TRIAL BEGINS TODAY

JAMMU: Meanwhile, the trial in the rape and murder case will begin on Monday.

The accused include a juvenile among the eight.

The chief judicial magistrate of Kathua will be committing one of the charge sheets, in which seven people have been named, to the sessions court for trial as mandated under the law.

The chief judicial magistrate will, however, hold the trial for the juvenile as it is the designated court under the juvenile act, according to officials.