Srinagar, Mar 29:  Chief Judicial Magistrate Srinagar, Rajeev Gupta, on Thursday directed the Inspector General of Police Kashmir Zone to prepare computerized, error free and explicit copies of the chargesheet, statements of witnesses, and other related documents in the murder case of a noted lawyer and human rights activist, Jaleel Andrabi.
 The CJM also asked the IGP to prepare the translated English version of the documents which would be subsequently authenticated by it after verifying the contents of the original charge sheet and other documents.
 The court passed the direction after Ministry of external Affairs Government of India has sent back the record pertaining to extradition of Major Avtar Singh who is accused of killing Andrabi and is currently in California.
 The court said the documents to be furnished are to be examined by the authorities including the courts at United States of America, the country from which the extradition is sought.
 The court held that the record which was sent earlier along with the extradition request, as is available on the file, is neither clear nor legible and there are mistakes in the documents.
 The court said the documents need to be prepared perfectly without loopholes so that they are not returned.   
 In August last year the court had asked the Inspector General Crime Branch to file the status report of extradition proceedings of Major Avtar Singh.
 The court had also directed to issue reminder to Secretary Home to expedite the matter saying a lot of delay had already been caused in the matter.
 Pertinently, Major Avtar Singh left India after allegedly murdering Andrabi in March 1996. He went to America via Canada. He was arrested by police in California in February last year following a complaint of domestic violence by his wife. Major Avtar Singh served with Army’s 35 Rashtriya Rifles for many years.
 A murder case was registered against Major Avtar Singh and others after the victim’s family pursued the matter in the High Court and alleged that the Government was covering up the murder. The case is, however, pending trial before the court of CJM Srinagar for over a decade. The Court has directed extradition of the accused Major from USA.

Lastupdate on : Thu, 29 Mar 2012 21:30:00 Makkah time
Lastupdate on : Thu, 29 Mar 2012 18:30:00 GMT
Lastupdate on : Fri, 30 Mar 2012 00:00:00 IST