Advocate’s murder: Police remand of Ex-BAR Chief Mian Qayoom extended by 6 days

STATE TIMES NEWS

JAMMU: Special Judge NIA Jammu Jatinder Singh Jamwal on Monday extended the remand of Jammu and Kashmir High Court Bar Association, Mian Abdul Qayoom upto July 6 2024.
Qayoom was arrested by the SIA on June 25, 2024 for his alleged involvement in the murder conspiracy of fellow advocate Babar Qadri in 2020.
“Today aAccused, Mian Abdul Qayoom, son of Late Mian Abdul Rahim, resident of Barzulla, Srinagar, has been produced before NIA Court by Farooq Qaiser, SSP (FIU) CID Hars, J&K/CIO with the prayer for remanding him to the custody of Police for a further period of 10 days inter alia on the grounds that his presence is required for further investigation of the case”, according to a handout.
“The accused informed the Court that being himself a practicing Lawyer, having more than 40 years of experience at the Bar, he has not engaged any Counsel and also refused the services of the Legal Aid Defence Counsel and he opposed the present application, for extension of Police remand.
The accused resisted the extension of period of police-remand inter alia on the grounds that it was on January 20, 2024 that he was summoned by the Investigation Agency in the case and thereafter he regularly attended, as also fully cooperated, the investigation of the case till he was arrested by the Investigation Agency on June 25, 2024 without any justification. In elaboration of said submission, the accused submitted that the present case was registered as far back as in the year 2020 and even the trial proceedings have been substantially completed. He submitted that the case was investigated thoroughly and his name never surfaced during the initial investigation of the case and it was only after the further investigation of the case was ordered by the trial Court that he was summoned by the Investigation Authority. He submitted that he has answered every single query put to him by the Investigation Officer, both prior and subsequent to his arrest and, therefore, his further detention in police custody is not warranted. Besides that the accused also resisted the extension of police remand on account of his old-age, being more than 76 years old, and multiple ailments with which he is afflicted. He submitted that he has to take numerous medicines including insulin dosage, multiple times during the day. He further submitted that the grounds of arrest were not furnished to him immediately after arrest but on the day of first remand on June 26,2024, which fact in itself, according to the accused is sufficient, to make his custody illegal. Lastly, he disputed the power of the Director General of Police, J&K, to transfer the investigation of the case to a different agency which power, according to him, vests only with the Constitutional Courts.
All these submissions were vehemently refuted by the prosecution inter alia on the grounds that the accused is not cooperating with the investigation of the case and, therefore, his further detention in the custody of police is warranted in order to elicit further information regarding the occurrence, leading to registration of the case. He submitted that the grounds of arrest were communicated to the accused at the time of his arrest itself on June 25, 2024 and the whole episode was also video-graphed and subsequently the same were also furnished to him in writing. The prosecution further submitted that adequate medical-care is being provided and shall continue to be made available to the accused.
Resisting the submission regarding the power of the DGP of J&K Police to transfer the investigation of the case to a different Agency, the prosecution submitted that the said plea was also raised before the High Court of J&K during the hearing of the application for transfer of the present case from Srinagar to Jammu but the same was not accepted.
Special Judge NIA Jatinder Singh Jamwal, after considering the rival submissions of the parties, perusal of the latest entries in the case-diary and giving thoughtful consideration to the matter, observed that investigation of the case vis-à-vis the present accused, in the case registered vide case FIR No. 62/2020 of Police- Station: Lal Bazar/SIA Kashmir, for offences U/Ss. 120-B/302 of IPC; Sec. 7/27 of Indian Arms Act & Sections 13/16/18/18-8/20/38/39 of UA (P) Act, is still at an initial stage and, therefore, his further detention in the custody of the police is imperative as the Investigation Agency is required to be afforded an opportunity to elicit all the possible information from the accused for further progress of the investigation. Further, without going into greater details, it’s noticed that the prosecution has prima facie offered a justifiable explanation regarding the legal plea/s viz: the furnishing of grounds of arrest and the authority of the DGP, J&K Police to transfer the investigation of the case, raised by the accused. Taking that into account coupled with the facts and circumstances of the case, the accused is remanded to police custody till July 6, 2024 with the direction to the CIO of the case to produce him before the competent Court of Law on that day.
However, Court directed that the accused shall be subjected to medical-examination under rule and adequate medical-care should be made available to him and it shall be ensured that all the medicines including the insulin dosage/s is provided to him without any interruption.