SC to hear plea of witnesses

NEWDELHI: Three witnesses in the Kathua rape and murder case on Monday approached the Supreme Court alleging torture by Jammu and Kashmir police while recording their statements in connection with the crime.

The three witnesses, who also happen to be college students and classmates of one of the accused Vishal Jagotra, say that the latter was with them in Muzzafarnagar on the date of the incident and they were coerced by the police to falsely implicate him. On Monday morning, the case was mentioned before a bench led by the Chief justice of India by advocate Ravi Sharma.

Sharma informed the court that J&K police had issued fresh notices to the students to record their statements. “This even after their 164 (section 164 of the Code of Criminal Procedure ) statements were recorded; repeated summons are being issued to the petitioners which is contrary to the law”, argued Sharma. “My clients are willing to co-operate with the police, but they fear for their safety. In such circumstances their statements that are recorded must be videographed or made in front of a magistrate,” argued advocate Ravi Sharma.

The witnesses have claimed that Vishal Jangotra was with them at Miranpur, Muzzafarnagar, from January 7, 2018 to February 10, 2018. During that period, Jagotra and the petitioners took exams. The petitioners allege that they have been on the run for the last one month and that their parents are being threatened by the police. The court agreed to hear the petition on Wednesday.

Earlier this month, the Supreme Court transferred the Kathua gang rape and murder case outside Jammu and Kashmir to Pathankot in Punjab and ruled out a CBI probe into the incident. A bench headed by Chief Justice Dipak Misra ordered an in-camera hearing of the case and said the trial should be conducted on a day-to-day basis to avoid delay. The J&K government was given the liberty of appointing its own public prosecutor to conduct the trial.