SRINAGAR: Punjab and Haryana High Court have refused parole request by Sanji Ram, one of the accused in the Kathua gang rape and murder case, Chandigarh newspaper, Tribune reported.
The January 2018 crisis led to the resignation of two cabinet ministers of BJP and contributed towards the fall of the BJPDP government later.
A division bench comprising S Muralidhar and Justice Avneesh Jhingan heard the plea and rejected it. “Given the genuine apprehension expressed as regards the possible law and order consequences, if the petitioner’s prayer for parole is granted, the court is not inclined to accept such prayer at this stage,” the newspaper quoted the bench observing in its dismissal order. Sanji Ram had sought eight-week parole to attend his son’s marriage.
After the Jammu and Kashmir Police Crime Branch investigated the case, the charge sheet was filed before a court in Pathankot as designed by the superior judicial authority. The court convicted six of the seven accused on June 10, 2019.
Crime Branch has told the court that the parole could impact the situation at ground zero. “As the case came up for hearing through videoconferencing, a report by the Senior Superintendent of Police, Crime Branch, Jammu, dated October 31 was placed on record,” the newspaper said. “It stated that the victim’s relatives had returned from the higher reaches to Rasana village, where the marriage was scheduled to take place.”
