New Delhi, July 24: The Supreme Court on Friday said the Jammu & Kashmir High Court cannot order the arrest of police officials accused in the
rape and murder of two women in Shopian district.
The apex court suspended the J&K High Court order that asked two senior police officers of Shopian district to seek bail only from the high court, saying the HC had usurped the bail jurisdiction of the trial court. It allowed the officers to directly move the Shopian sessions court for bail, which it said must be decided without influence from the J&K High Court’s observations, and only on merit.
The police officers had on July 17 moved the SC seeking a stay of the high court order directing their arrest and collection of blood samples for preparing the DNA profile.
The police officers had submitted that the high court’s order was passed without making them party in the PIL filed by the Jammu and Kashmir High Court Bar Association in connection with alleged rape and murder of Neelofar Jan and Aasiya Jan in Shopian.
On Thursday, the Jammu and Kashmir government opposed in the Supreme Court, the bail plea of the police officers saying the investigations relating to it were not yet complete.
The state government, in its reply to the bail plea of superintendent of police Javed Iqbal Mattoo and deputy SP Rohit Baskotra, said a Special Investigation Team was probing the case and there is likelihood of levelling other charges against the arrested them.
Till now, the four police officials have been booked only under section 201 of Indian Penal Code for the offence of destruction of evidence.
“The circumstances of the present case also suggest that certain officers of the police have acted in a manner which suggest that there was an effort to hush up rather than to investigate the crime,” the counter affidavit filed by advocates Anis Suharwardy and Mehdi Imam for the state government said.
“The case is under investigation and no chargesheet has yet been filed. Hence, the accused persons cannot claim that they have been charged only under particular sections,” it said.
The police officers have contended that they have been charged only under the bailable offence of destruction of evidence.
The apex court had on Monday stayed the narco analysis test of the police officers and had posted the hearing on the bail application for Friday saying that it can only be heard after receiving the response of the state government.
–PTI