news details |
|
|
| Handwara incident: HC notice to govt on petition for review of its judgment | | | Early Times Report
Srinagar, July 1: The state high court has issued a notice to government on a petition seeking review of a judgment dismissing demand for a high level probe by a sitting judge in the alleged molestation of a schoolgirl at Handwara and subsequent killing of five persons in the north Kashmir district in April this year.
A division bench of the court comprising Justices A M Magrey and Tashi Rabstan has directed the government to file the reply within two weeks.
"We are of the considered view that this is not a case where this court would need to take any action in exercise of its inherent powers, for, the state and its functionaries have already taken the required steps envisaged by law. This petition is accordingly dismissed as being unnecessary," the court had said in the judgment announced on May 4.
The state government had objected to the judicial probe and had instead claimed that a seven-member special investigation team headed by DIG north Kashmir has been formed for speedy investigation into the incident.
"It is to be borne in mind that petitioner has also prayed that simultaneous with the conduct of the judicial probe, the FIRs registered at Handwara, Drugmulla, NuthNusa and Kupwara be investigated and, besides preserving the evidence, final reports in terms of Section 173 of CrPC be filed before the appropriate court. The investigating officers/team (should) be directed to visit the spot forthwith and collect all the evidence which may be available on spot and be relevant to the case, so as to make use of the same, before the judicial authority and also in a court of law. In the face of this prayer, what would be the function of the judicial authority sought to be appointed," the division bench had said and also questioned whether the judicial commission would supervise the investigation or conduct a parallel investigation, that too with the aid of a team of police officers.
Regarding the videography of the girl at Handwara police station and circulation of the video, the court said: "We leave the aggrieved person, if any, free to seek compensation in appropriate proceedings."
Opposing the probe by a sitting judge, the advocate general had pleaded that Supreme Court had sounded a caution that the option should be sparsely exercised in extreme situations if credibility of the institution was in question.
"The court is not powerless to order a judicial probe by a sitting judge, but at the very threshold it is premature to demand judicial probe without allowing the agency to carry forward the probe," he had said and added the SC had discouraged such probe as it would create unnecessary burden on judges.
"The newspaper reports cannot be the basis of a PIL as these had no evidence value and could not be relied upon always," he had said.
In its objection to the PIL, the government said that it had constituted a seven-member special investigation team headed by DIG north Kashmir for "speedy investigation" of the case. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
| |
|
|
|
|
 |
|
|
|
|
STOCK UPDATE |
|
|
 |
| BSE
Sensex |
 |
| NSE
Nifty |
|
|
| |
CRICKET UPDATE |
|
|
|
|
| |
| |
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
