Srinagar, May 5: The Supreme Court Friday asked the counsels representing the parties in Zahid Farooq killing case to go through the Pathribal case judgment to find out if it could be of any help in the case.
 “The case was heard by a bench comprising justices B S Chuhan and J S Khehar who directed (verbally) to the counsels representing the parties to peruse the Apex court Pathribal judgment so that they can argue during the final arguments if the judgment has relevance with Zahid Farooq case, ” Standing Counsel for Jammu and Kashmir in the Supreme Court, Sunil Fernandes told Greater Kashmir.
 The Apex Court has listed the case for final arguments in 2nd week of July after the summer break, he said.
 He said in the absence of Additional Advocate General for Jammu and Kashmir government in Supreme Court, Gaurav Prachnanda who is currently out of country, the proceeding was attended by him. The Union government was represented by the Solicitor General of India, R S Nariman, he said.
 “We have plea that under the BSF Act even if immunity from prosecution is given to an officer for any act they have committed in the course of active duty, they can’t get immunity for trial in the criminal courts in Jammu and Kashmir,” Fernandes said.
 The Supreme Court on April 16 had adjourned the case and had listed the case for final hearing on April 30.
 The case could not be heard by the Apex Court on April 30 as R S Solicitor General, Nariman could not attend the proceedings.
 The Apex Court had adjourned the case on February 27 for two weeks and had said that the Pathribal case was to be disposed of soon and the decision would be applied in Zahid Farooq case as well.
 The state government has filed a Special Leave Petition (SLP) in the Supreme Court wherein it has pleaded that action like murder, rape etc committed by defence personnel like Border Security Forces (BSF) cannot be considered as part of their normal duty hence they cannot get the benefit of Court Martial and they should be tried in the criminal courts of Jammu and Kashmir.
 The state government and the complainant have filed two separate Special Leave Petitions against the judgment passed by Jammu and Kashmir High Court in two Criminal Revision petitions.
 Two Criminal Revisions Petitions were filed by the government and the complainant, against the order passed by the CJM Srinagar wherein the court had allowed application of BSF seeking the trial of the two accused—BSF Commandant V K Birdi and his bodyguard in security forces’ court.

Lastupdate on : Sat, 5 May 2012 21:30:00 Makkah time
Lastupdate on : Sat, 5 May 2012 18:30:00 GMT
Lastupdate on : Sun, 6 May 2012 00:00:00 IST