APEX COURT DISPOSES OF SUO MOTU WRIT PETITION

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court considered on Monday the submission of the Jammu and Kashmir High Court Bar Association (JKHCBA) that it should dispose of the suo motu cognisance of the Kathua gangrape and murder case in which it has taken strong note of some lawyers obstructing the judicial process.

A bench of Chief Justice Dipak Misra and justices A M Khanwilkar and DY Chandrachud took note of the submission by senior advocate Sidharth Luthra, appearing for the JKHCBA, that the trial in the matter has already been shifted to Pathankot in Punjab and has commenced as per its order. Noting the submissions of the JKHCBA, the bench disposed of the matter.

The top court had on April 13 taken strong note of some lawyers obstructing the judicial process in the Kathua gangrape and murder case and initiated a case on its own record, saying such impediment “affects the dispensation of justice and would amount to obstruction of access to justice”.

It had said that it is a settled law that a lawyer who appears for a victim or an accused cannot be prevented by any bar association or group of lawyers, for it is his duty to appear in support of his client.

A Bar Council of India (BCI’s) committee had supported the demand of the lawyers’ body there for a CBI probe in the matter saying the bar associations in Kathua had not obstructed the police or the counsel representing the victim’s family in any manner.