Lawyers obstructed SIT from filing chargesheet: J&K govt to SC

The Jammu and Kashmir government informed the Supreme Court on Wednesday that the Kathua Bar Association did obstruct members of the state police special investigation team (SIT) from filing the chargesheet in the gangrape-cum-murder case of an eight-year-old girl in the Jammu district.

It contradicted the claims by Kathua Bar Association that its members never prevented the police from submitting their final investigation report. The state said that on April 9, the police could not file the chargesheet due to sloganeering by the lawyers. The team had arrived in the Kathua chief judicial magistrate’s court at about 3.45pm. Some of the lawyers even barged into the CJM’s chamber and attempts were made to threaten and humiliate the police officers to leave the court.

Thereafter, the magistrate advised the police to present one chargesheet to him in the evening and another against the juvenile be produced the next day. The Kathua Bar Association had also come up with a press release the next day substantiating the events.

The bar association denied the allegations and said the SIT had filed the chargesheet in the court of the Kathua CJM on April 9 itself. Media was blamed for carrying wrong reports, which led to an impression that the Kathua Bar Association had protested against the police. The crime branch team had visited the district court premises several times in the last three months but there had never been any complaint.

The J&K High Court Bar Association termed as “false and baseless” charges that its members had obstructed the lawyer of the victim’s family Deepika Rajawat while she appeared in HC to argue the case.

IT CONTRADICTS THE CLAIMS BY KATHUA BAR ASSOCIATION THAT ITS MEMBERS NEVER PREVENTED POLICE FROM SUBMITTING THEIR PROBE REPORT

SANJI RAM, SON MOVE IMPLEADMENT APPLICATION IN SC

Former revenue official Sanji Ram, the alleged main conspirator in the infamous Kathua rape and murder case of the minor nomadic girl, and his son Vishal Jangotra on Wednesday moved an impleadment application before the SC via their counsel.

An impleadment application is generally moved to sue (a third party) as a defendant, in a lawsuit that has already been commenced.