BCI’s claim nullified: HC report indicates Kathua lawyers did obstruct justice, says SC

Srinagar, May 07: The Supreme Court on Monday said that a report submitted by the District and Session judge, Kathua to the J&K High Court shows that there has been obstruction to justice by the Kathua Bar Association, whose members tried to stop the Crime Branch from filing the chargesheet in the rape and murder case.
“Be it noted, the high Court of Jammu and Kashmir had called for a report from the District & Sessions Judge, Kathua, who has submitted the report and the same has been brought on record. Suffice it to mention that the report indicates that there has been some obstruction by the Bar Association at Kathua,” the apex court observed.
The remarks, as such, nullify the claim made by Bar Association of India, which, on April 26, had told the Supreme Court that ‘no such obstruction’ had taken place and had called the demand for a CBI inquiry “justified”.
On April 9, the lawyers in Kathua stopped Crime Branch officials from going to the court and resisted the move to present the chargesheet in the court of Chief Judicial Magistrate in Kathua.
After facing intense sloganeering in court, the Crime Branch officials had to submit the chargesheet to the CJM at his residence the night that day.