Supreme Court shifts Kathua trial out of J-K to Pathankot, accused oppose shifting

The court also directed day-to-day "in-camera" trial.

Photo: Representational/PTI (File)

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Monday ordered that the trial in the gangrape and murder of an eight-year-old girl in Kathua will be shifted out of Jammu and Kashmir to neighbouring Punjab. The court also said that holding fair trial was "sacrosant" and cannot be allowed to "co-exist" with fear. The court directed day-to-day "in-camera" trial where the district and sessions judge at Pathankot was asked to personally undertake the trial proceedings. The order came on a petition by the victim's father seeking transfer of the case to Chandigarh on the ground that the family was receiving death threats and that they feared for their lives The girl's father welcomed the Court decision and said he has full faith in the judiciary. While the accused have said the transfer of trial outside of Jammu and Kashmir may affect free and fair trial. A bench headed by Chief Justice Dipak Misra refrained from handing over the probe to the CBI and directed that the trial is fast-tracked to ensure no delay. In the case, the victim, who belonged to a minority nomadic community, had disappeared from near her home in a village close to Kathua in the Jammu region on January 10. Later, her body, gangraped and murdered, was found in the same area a week later.