New Delhi: A Supreme Court bench headed by Chief Justice DipakMisra ordered an in-camera hearing of the Kathua rape case saying that the trial should be conducted on a day-to-day basis to avoid delay. The Jammu and Kashmir government was given the liberty to appoint its own public prosecutor to conduct the trial.The Supreme Court transferred the Kathua gang rape and murder case outside Jammu and Kashmir to Pathankot in Punjab ruling out a CBI probe.
SC ordered the district and sessions judge to personally undertake trial proceedings and not assign it to any other judge. It directed there should be no break between examination and cross-examination of the witnesses, who will be provided police protection by state government when they travel to Pathankot. The bench also ruled that the top court would monitor the case and that no court, except the SC, will hear any petition related to it.
The order came on the petition filed by the murdered girl’s father seeking the transfer of the case because of a threat to the family, their friends and their lawyer Deepika Singh Rajawat. Lawyers in Kathua had allegedly stopped the police from filing the charge sheet against eight accused before the magistrate court, forcing the officials to approach the judge at his residence.
SC said the trial would be in accordance with the provisions of Ranbir Penal Code, applicable in J&K. The state was directed to translate statements and records of the case from Urdu to English. Security will continue to be provided to the victim’s family, their lawyer, witnesses and all accused, including a juvenile, the court said. The court transferred the case despite the accused and the state objecting to it.
GopalSubramanium, senior advocate and solicitor general during the UPA regime, appeared for PDP-BJP government in J&K. He assured the court that the state was only concerned with investigation and fair trial. The top court said it will not look into the plea for a CBI probe, as demanded by the accused, and fixed July 9 to hear the matter again. The apex court said the trial must be fair to the victim’s family and accused.