Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on Tuesday said the State government would react to the Shopian issue only after the Jammu and Kashmir High Court gave its verdict. He said the government was yet to receive a copy of the investigation report submitted by the Central Bureau of Investigation on the alleged rape and murder of two women.
Talking to journalists on the sidelines of a function here, Mr. Abdullah said no decision had been taken as yet. “The CBI has completed its report and handed it over to the High Court. The report has not been given to the State government… the High Court is still monitoring the case and let the court do its work,” he said.
This is the first time since the CBI filed its report before a Division Bench of the High Court headed by Chief Justice Barin Ghosh that the Chief Minister was speaking on the issue.
The CBI, in its report submitted on December 14, concluded that the two women died of drowning. This contradicts the findings of the Justice Muzaffar Judicial Commission that the women were raped and murdered by unidentified men.
The CBI also filed chargesheets against 13 persons - six doctors, five lawyers and two civilians - while it gave a clean chit to four policemen, including Superintendent of Police Javed Iqbal Mattoo.
Meanwhile, a petition challenging the re-examination of the two witnesses by the CBI was adjourned on Tuesday without hearing. It was the second time that the petition was adjourned.
The petition filed by the District Bar Association of Shopian on December 9 was listed for admission before Justice Nissar Ahmad Kakroo on Tuesday.
Counsel for the petitioners did not appear and no reason was given. The Bar has pleaded that the October 26 order of the Shopian Court, which allowed the re-examination of the two key witnesses, be quashed. Though the Chief Judicial Magistrate, Shopian, had refused permission for re-examination, it was later granted by the Principal District and Sessions Judge. Absence of counsel for the petitioners who are general members of Kashmir Bar Association is significant in this regard.
