HC transfers trial in molestation case against former minister from Srinagar to Jammu

Jammu, Feb 25: The Jammu and Kashmir High Court has ordered the transfer of the trial in a nine-year-old molestation case against a former Congress minister from a court in Srinagar to Jammu on his request, saying it cannot be stated that his apprehension of not receiving a fair trial in the valley is “unfounded”.

Former health minister Shabir Ahmad Khan was booked for molestation on February 6, 2014 on the complaint of a woman doctor, the wife of a prominent separatist leader, at Shaheed Gunj police station in Srinagar, which had led to his resignation the next day.

Khan filed a petition in the high court, seeking transfer of his trial from the court of Chief Judicial Magistrate, Srinagar to any other court of parallel jurisdiction in Jammu on the plea that he is apprehensive of a fair and impartial trial given the threat to his lawyer and surcharged atmosphere in the jam-packed court during the proceedings.

“…it is a fact of common knowledge that incidents of attacks on mainstream politicians and the people who do not subscribe to the separatists ideology are still taking place in Kashmir Valley.

“Therefore, it cannot be stated that apprehension expressed by the petitioner to his life at Srinagar while facing trial before the court is unfounded,” Justice Sanjay Dhar has said in his four-page order on Wednesday.