SC stays Kathua rape and murder case trial till May 7

The Supreme Court had earlier said it would transfer the Kathua rape and murder case from the local court in Jammu and Kashmir if there was the “slightest possibility” of lack of fair trial.

india Updated: Apr 27, 2018 14:18 IST

Students shout slogans during a protest against the rape and murder of an eight-year-old girl in Kathua near Jammu, in Srinagar on April 16, 2018.(Reuters)

The Supreme Court on Friday stayed the trial in the gangrape and murder of an 8-year-old girl in Kathua in Jammu and Kashmir and asked the accused to respond to a plea for hearings be transferred to Chandigarh.

Chief Justice Dipak Misra, Justice DY Chandrachud and Justice Indu Malhotra stayed trial which was listed for hearing in a court in Kathua town Saturday. The top court said it would hear on May 7 the plea for transfer of trial.

The Jammu and Kashmir government opposes the transfer of trial saying that it had a different penal code and transfer of trial would pose inconvenience to the witnesses.

Meanwhile, the Centre on Friday told the top court that it would extend whatever assistance was required from it.

The Centre is a respondent in a related petition seeking transfer of investigation from the Jammu and Kashmir Police to the Central Bureau of Investigation, a plea opposed by the murdered girl ‘s father.

(With inputs from IANS)