Kathua Case: Supreme Court criticizes lawyers
New Delhi : The Supreme Court on Friday issued warning to lawyers for preventing the filing of chargesheet in sensational rape-cum-murder of an eight-year-old girl in Jammu.
Taking suo motu cognizance of the unruly behaviour of the lawyers in Kathua and Jammu, the apex body warned against any attempt to prevent the process of law.
It said such activities amounted to “obstruction of access to justice and interference with the administration of justice”. A bench of Chief Justice Dipak Misra and Justices A M Khanwilkar and D Y Chandrachud asked lawyers to behave and “not obstruct the smooth functioning of the justice delivery system” or indulge in activities to prevent the prosecution from presenting the accused before the court or stall entry of prosecution or lawyers representing the victim’s family or witnesses.
A notice in the matter has also been issued to the Bar Council of India, seeking a response by April 19.
The lawyers in Kathua and Jammu had been obstructing the process of law through strike to prevent police from filing chargesheet in the case was brought to the bench’s notice by a group of lawyers led by P V Dinesh at 10.40 am.
