SC takes suo moto cognizance of conduct of Kathua lawyers and Jmu Bar Association, issues notices to BCI and Jamu Bar

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Friday took suo moto cognisance of the alleged conduct of lawyers after a strike call given by the Kathua and Jammu and Kashmir Bar Associations in relation to the Kathua gang rape and murder case. The top court also issued a notice to the Bar Council of India and Jammu Bar Association in the matter.
Earlier in the day, the apex court had asked lawyer P V Dinesh to bring materials on record to take judicial note of a strike call given by Kathua and Jammu and Kashmir bar associations in relation to the gang rape and killing of an eight-year-old girl in Jammu region. The top court bench headed by Chief Justice Dipak Misra asked Dinesh to furnish some material with regard to the actions of the bar bodies for enabling it to take suo moto judicial note of the strike call.
Dinesh referred to the ‘unfortunate’ decisions of the local bar that had allegedly come in support of the people who had gangraped and killed the minor in Kathua. The minor girl, who belonged to the nomadic Bakerwal Muslim community, had disappeared from near her home in the forests next to Rasana village in Kathua, 90 km from here, on January 10. A week later, her body was found in the same area, and medical examination pointed towards sexual assault.