Legal experts on Thursday said the Kathua rape and murder case of eight-year-old girl falls within the definition of “rarest of rare cases” in which the court may award capital punishment to the accused. They said the provisions of law don’t allow re-investigation once the investigating agency has filed charge sheet before the competent court.
Advocate Mushtaq Ahmad Dar, one of the leading criminal lawyers of J&K, said that the provisions of law prohibit re-investigation once the investigating agency files charge sheet before the competent court. “Since the charge sheet has been filed already before the court of competent jurisdiction in Kathua rape and murder case, there is no question of fresh inquiry by any other investigation agency including CBI. Only further investigation may be made or conducted by the crime branch team with the leave/permission of the competent court,” said Dar.
He said the court may direct the investigating agency to go for further investigation. “Further investigation means to conduct further probe in addition to facts and evidences already collected by the investigating agency,” he said. “Moreover further investigation is conducted or made by the same team which had earlier investigated the case.”
“Once the charge-sheet is submitted before the competent court, there cannot be any fresh inquiry under the provisions of law,” he said adding that handing over to the case CBI amounts to fresh inquiry for which there is no provision of law. “Since the demand for CBI inquiry is uncalled for, unwarranted and without jurisdiction as the charge sheet has already been filed by the Crime Branch in this case,” he said.
Dar said apparently the case falls under the category of rarest of rare cases if substantial and strong evidence is presented. “If there are eyewitnesses in the case and they stand the cross-examination, in that case the accused would get capital punishment,” he said.
“If we look at the nature of brutality, circumstances and facts unveiled by investigating agency, it has shaken the conscience of entire society,” said another advocate AA Teli who has represented the state in rape and murder cases earlier as prosecutor and special prosecutor. “It falls under the definition of rarest of rare cases.”