Apex court raps Jammu lawyers
The Supreme Court on Thursday pulled up Jammu lawyers for obstructing the filing of chargesheet in the Kathua minor rape and murder case even as they claimed they were protesting on a different issue.
“We are not concerned with anything, we are concerned with fair trial. You created a situation, police had to file the chargesheet at the residence of the magistrate,” said a bench of Chief Justice Dipak Misra, Justice AM Khanwilkar and Justice DY Chandrachud.
The lawyers insisted that they were protesting on a different issue that got mixed up with the filing of the chargesheet.
“Whatever may be the background (of the protest), the resultant action was wrong,” Justice Misra said as the court was told that the protesting lawyers have retreated and assured that there would be no obstruction in the trial of the rape and murder of the eight-year-old victim from the Bakerwal community in Jammu’s Hiranagar area.
Meanwhile, the Jammu High Court Bar Association also told the Supreme Court that it did not support lawyers’ protest in connection with the Kathua gangrape and murder case.
Meanwhile, the Kathua District Bar Association told the bench that they have already withdrawn the strike on April 12 itself.
Advocate Shoeb Alam, appearing for the state opposed the tagging of plea filed by the victim’s father, who is seeking the transfer of case from Kathua to Chandigarh, with the suo motu matter related to lawyers’ protest there.
The bench, while clarifying that the administration of justice can’t be interfered with, asked the Jammu High Court Bar Association, BCI and others to file their affidavits by April 24 and listed the matter for hearing in the next week.
The apex court had on April 13 took serious note of lawyers obstructing the judicial process in the Kathua gangrape and murder case and initiated a case on its own accord, saying such impeding of the process of law “affects the delivery of justice”.
The top court had said that lawyers’ bodies have solemn duty to not obstruct advocates representing the accused or the victims’ family in the courts.
LAWYERS INSISTED BEFORE SC THAT THEY WERE PROTESTING ON A DIFFERENT ISSUE THAT GOT MIXED UP WITH THE FILING OF THE CHARGESHEET