A Jammu & Kashmir court on Wednesday heard a fresh plea submitted by the family of the murdered Kashmiri Pandit, Satish Tickoo, against Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF) leader Farooq Ahmad Dar alias Bitta Karate.
The court, which has sought a progress report in the case, has scheduled the next hearing for April 16.
“It was the first hearing of the murder trial. The court hearing was very positive for the family. We apprised the court that it’s a serious matter. Tickoo was killed in cold blood by Karate. We are hopeful there will be justice. It has taken 31 years for the family to finally seek justice and a formal trial into the murder,” advocate Utsav Bains, representing the victim’s family, said.
He said the family was hopeful that the provisions of the Constitution will ensure they “will get justice and closure”.
“Karate has confessed [to the crime] in a BBC [international news channel] interview. Tickoo was the first victim of Karate. There is a ray of hope now that they will get justice like other Indians who have been mercilessly killed [in Kashmir],” Mr. Bains said.
He said Karate’s lawyer was reprimanded by the court for trying to disrupt the proceedings, “which is unfortunate”, he added.
The Tickoo family has pleaded for a “proper, fair and impartial investigation” and “a status report of the earlier investigation”.
Tickoo, a businessman, was shot dead outside his residence in the Karfalli locality of Srinagar on February 2, 1990.
Karate, who was a JKLF ‘commander’ in 1989, was arrested in 1990 and charged with the killing of Kashmiri Pandits. After spending over 15 years in jail, he was released in 2007 by the Supreme Court. He was again arrested in 2017, immediately after a sting operation carried out by a news channel, and remains in a jail in New Delhi.
