CHANDIGARH: Taking cognizance of a plea filed by an accused claiming to be a juvenile in the
Kathua rape and murder case, the Punjab and
Haryana high court issued a notice to the
Jammu and Kashmir government on Monday, asking it to file a reply by August 30.
In his revision petition, the accused has challenged the June 21 decision of the Pathankot district and sessions judge, ordering the J&K government to form a medical board for ossification test to confirm his age.
In his report submitted to the trial court on July 5, the medical report had suggested his age between 20 and 21 years, on the basis of which the trial court ordered him to face the prosecution as an adult in the case.
While giving details of the proceedings before Justice Anita Chaudhary on Monday, the petitioner's counsel Chandan Sharma said he had placed on record the July 9 Supreme Court order, clarifying that appeal against the trial court orders were maintainable before the high court. "We will file an appeal against two more illegal orders passed by the Pathankot court on July 5, declining to accept the documents relating to first school attended by the petitioner and dismissing the application to declare him juvenile on the next date," the counsel informed.
The petitioner has been arguing that according to the certificates submitted to the trial court, he was below 18 years at the time of the alleged offence.
On May 7, the Supreme Court had shifted the trial to Pathankot, which is around 26km from
Kathua that had witnessed protests over the J&K police investigation report. tnn
Representative image 
