On Tuesday, a Sessions Court in Srinagar adjourned the hearing on a plea against former militant Farooq Ahmed Dar alias Bitta Karate in the alleged murder of Kashmiri Pandit Satish Tickoo after the lawyer appearing for the petitioner claimed that J&K Police didn’t provide him security despite Supreme Court directions.
The case was supposed to be heard today in the court of First Additional Sessions Judge-Srinagar. However, advocate Utsav Bains appearing for Tickoo’sTickoo’s family, sought adjournment of the hearing, citing security reasons, a news agency.
In a letter to First Additional Sessions Judge-Srinagar, the adjournment came after Bains claimed that he left back for Delhi from Srinagar Airport after he was not provided security.
The letter reads that as “no security was provided to Advocate Utsav Bains by Jammu & Kashmir Police today despite orders by Hon’bleHon’ble Supreme Court of India, the learned advocate has to, unfortunately, return to Delhi after landing at the Srinagar Airport today at 9 am.”
“It is requested to your lordship to please adjourn today’s hearing in Criminal Revision No 138 of 2022 in the interest of justice,” concludes the letter.
Pertinently, the trial proceedings against the former Jammu Kashmir Liberation Front Commander had begun nearly after 31 years following a plea filed by the Pandit family of Satish Tickoo.
Advocate Utsav Bains had filed the application on behalf of the family of Satish Kumar Tickoo in Srinagar Sessions Court for status reports of all the FIRs registered against Farooq Ahmed Dar alias Bitta Karate- who the Supreme Court of India has already bailed out.
Earlier, on 24 July 2017, the Supreme Court of India had dismissed a plea filed by the Kashmiri Pandit NGO Roots in Kashmir’ saying it is difficult to hold any probe and collect evidence on incidents that are more than 27 years old after the migration of Kashmiri Pandits from the valley.
