SC orders shifting of Kathua rape accused to Punjab jail
New Delhi, July 9 : The Supreme Court on Monday ordered the shifting of seven accused in rape-murder of a eight-year-old minor nomadic girl in Jammu and Kashmir's Kathua to the district jail in Punjab's Gurdaspur.
Seven of the eighth accused facing trial in the rape-murder case are currently lodged in Kathua district jail. The remained accused is a juvenile.
A bench of Chief Justice Dipak Misra, Justice D.Y.Chandrachud and Justice Indu Malhotra ordered the shifting of seven accused as senior counsel Indira Jaising told the court the purpose of holding day to day hearing has been defeated as the actual trial was taking only for a couple of hours since a lot of time was being lost in bringing the accused from Kathua jail to Pathankot.
Transferring the trial in the case from Kathua to Pathankot in Punjab on May 7, the top court had ordered that the Pathankot District and Sessions Judge would hold the trial in-camera and on day-to-day with no adjournments.
Directing that the trial judge would convert the trial court into in camera proceedings, the court on Monday said no one except the lawyers for the accused or the special public prosecutor will be allowed to enter the court room.
The court said that the trial judge would make all endeavours to secure the atmosphere for the trial and the Punjab and Haryana High Court would be approached by the contesting parties if aggrieved with any of its orders.
The court also directed the J&K government to provide security to the Special Public Prosecutor. The Pathankot court had framed charges against seven accused on June 7.
The top court's order came on a plea by the victim child's father who had moved the court seeking the transfer of trial from Kathua to Chandigarh.
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Man arrested with Rs 2.54-crore heroin in Mumbai
Mumbai (PTI): Police have arrested a man and seized over 500 grams of heroin worth Rs 2.54 crore in the illicit market from him in Mumbai, officials said on Friday.
The police's Anti-Narcotics Cell (ANC) made the drug seizure in Santacruz in the western suburbs. The operation was conducted by the Kandivali unit of the ANC on Thursday as part of a special crackdown against drug trafficking in the area, they said.
Acting on specific inputs, an ANC team conducted a raid in Santacruz (East) and intercepted a man. During a search, the team recovered 508 grams of high-grade heroin from his possession, an official said.
The seized contraband, a highly addictive, opioid drug derived from morphine, is estimated to be worth Rs 2.54 crore in the international market, he informed.
Following the seizure, a case was registered against the man under relevant sections of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act, 1985, and he was formally placed under arrest in the early hours of Friday.
The police are currently investigating the source of the drug and trying to identify the intended recipients of the consignment, he said.
