Jammu and Kashmir government has appointed a 70-year-old veteran advocate, Santokh Singh Basara as special public prosecutor in the Kathua case of January rape and murder of a nomadic girl that evoked a global outrage.
Basara, who was appointed on Friday, said he has been going through the records of the case “day and night” to ensure justice to the child victim and her Bakerwal community.
Details of an investigation by state police’s Crime Branch revealed last month unspeakable and horrifying details of the crime evoking anger and outrage.
According to the official notification issued by the government, Advocate Basra of Punjab’s Gurdaspur district will be assisted by Bhopinder Singh and Harminder Singh, chief prosecuting officers of the Crime Branch in Jammu and Samba courts respectively.
Earlier, the duo was appointed special public prosecutors to counter allegations of communal bias against the police.
Basra will represent the state in two pending cases. One case involves the seven accused, including a retired revenue official and alleged mastermind of the Kathua crime, Sanji Ram, his son and four policemen. The second case is against a juvenile accused of executing the crime along with others on directions from Ram.
“I received an official communication from Jammu and Kashmir Crime Branch on May 25. However, telephonically, I was told about my appointment by J&K government two to three days back,” Advocate Basra told Greater Kashmir.
Earlier this month the Supreme Court transferred the case out of the state to the District and Sessions Court, Pathankot, for all further proceedings. The next hearing in the case is scheduled to be held on May 31.
Basara said that the government was “very cooperative” and “serious” about ensuring justice in the rape and murder case as “I am being provided all possible help.”
The veteran lawyer was also the counsel of former Akali Dal minister, Sucha Singh Langah who was booked for raping a Punjab police constable in September 2017. However, after the complainant backtracked from her allegations in March 2018, Langah was granted bail by the Punjab and Haryana High Court.
“I joined the session court Gurdaspur in 1973 and since then I have been practicing criminal law. Many people sought my expertise to solve the criminal cases in this period, but I still believe that there is no shortcut to hard work in legal profession,” Advocate Basra said.