Jammu Kashmir
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| | Shopian double rapes, murder | | CBI likely to challenge HC stay on proceedings | | SRINAGAR, July 17: The CBI is likely to challenge before the Supreme Court the Jammu and Kashmir High Court order on appointment of its counsel in Shopian alleged rape and double murder case.
Two women Neelofar, 22, and her sister-in-law Aasiya, 17, went missing, reportedly after they left home to visit their apple orchard in Shopian on May 29, 2009. Their bodies were recovered the next day near Rambiarah rivulet.
On December 10, 2011 a lower court in Srinagar had rejected the application challenging the appointment of CBI’s counsel S K Bhat.
Syed Reyaz Hussain and Syed Reyaz Khawar, counsel for the accused doctors and lawyers in the matter had challenged the appointment of Bhat on the grounds that since the case pertains to the Jammu and Kashmir, the state government was supposed to appoint a public prosecutor to plead the case in the court.
Bhat had, however, argued that CBI was within the “well-defined jurisdiction” to plead the case. “The case was transferred to the CBI for investigation, and there is no reason to oppose my appointment,” he had argued in the matter last year.
Last month, Justice Muzaffar Hussain Attar stayed subordinate court proceedings in Shopian case on the condition that if the CBI chose to get itself represented by S K Bhat whose appointment was challenged by the counsel for accused doctors and lawyers in the matter. However, the High Court had said the proceedings will go on if the CBI was represented by any other lawyer other than Bhat. "The High Court has said that S K Bhat was associated with the CBI investigations into the matter and he will be deemed as a CBI officer and not its counsel," Bhat told Kashmir Times.
According to SK Bhat, the CBI counsel: “It is likely that we (CBI) may challenge the High Court order in Supreme Court in a few days.”
Asifa Padroo, the Counsel for CBI who appeared in the matter before Chief Judicial Magistrate (CJM) replacing S K Bhat today pleaded before the court that she has been asked to represent the CBI in the matter till Bhat’s appointment issue is resolved.
“The CJM listed the case for arguments on application for producing records of Special Investigation Team (SIT) in last week of September. In other clubbed matter, the CBI was directed to produce first three prosecution witnesses in Mohammad Yaseen Ganaie case,” Padroo informed Kashmir Times.
An application was moved by the counsel of accused doctors seeking a copy of report submitted by SIT led by Rouf-ul-Hassan.
After completing investigations in the matter, the CBI described the death of two women as “accidental drowning” and charge sheeted 13 persons including five lawyers, six doctors and two civilians (witnesses) accused of fabricating the evidence and retracting from their statements.
On December 10, 2009 the CBI presented charge sheet against 13 persons before the CJM, Srinagar. The charge sheet said that two women, Asiya Jan and her sister-in-law Neelofar who had gone missing on May 29, 2009 and then whose bodies were found on banks of Rambiararah rivulet in Shopian on May 30, 2009 have been neither raped nor murdered.
The CBI charge sheet has described the death of two women as “accidental drowning.”
The CBI said that investigation has established that false post mortem reports prepared by the first team of doctors comprising Dr Bilal Ahmad Dalal, and Dr Nazia Hassan and second team of doctors comprising Dr Nighat Shaheen, Dr Ghulam Qadir Sofi and Dr Maqbool Mir in connivance with Dr Ghulam Muhammad Paul. The lawyers accused in the charge-sheet include Mushtaq Ahmad Gatoo, Sheikh Mubarak, Altaf Muhammad, Mohammad Yousuf Bhat and Abdul Majid Mir. The civilian include elder brother of Asiya (victim), Zahoor Ahmad Ahanger and Ali Mohammad Sheikh. The duo has been accused of fabricating evidence and intimidating witnesses to mislead the investigations in the case. |
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| ‘Militant’ killed in Handwara encounter | | SRINAGAR, Jul 17: An unidentified ‘militant’ was killed in the wee hours today in an encounter with police and army at Batsunjhi in Handwara area of north Kashmir’s Kupwara district, police said.
The militant, according to the police, was hiding in the forest near Jaba in the village. On a tip off, the police and army started a search operation overnight, resulting in a gunfight that ended at 9 AM with death of the ‘militant’.
“On receiving the information, the police and 6 RR jointly launch | | > Govt dismisses KAS officer for graft | | > 16-years on, son wants to see father’s grave | | > Laila Khan case | | > Army worries over infiltrations, happy about cricketing ties | | > 2 more Amarnath pilgrims die, toll toll rises to 85 |
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