Supreme Court transfers Kathua case to Pathankot Court, orders day-to-day hearing

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Monday transferred the Kathua rape case to Pathankot Court and ordered that day-to-day hearing should take place.

A bench headed by Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra transferred the case after the victim's father had moved the apex court. He had cited threat to his family, a friend and lawyer Deepika Singh Rajawat.

While the Supreme Court had earlier issued a warning saying that the case would be transferred if there was even the slightest hint of lack of fair trial, the court said on Monday that proceedings would be held in front of cameras.

The court has also allowed J&K government to appoint public prosecutor in Pathankot Court and also asked J&K govt to provide security to the victim's family, their lawyer and witnesses, according to news agency ANI.

An eight-year-old child from a minority nomadic community had disappeared from near her home in a village near Kathua in Jammu region on January 10. Her body was found in the same area a week later. During a previous hearing, the apex court had witnessed heated exchanges between senior advocate Indira Jaising, who appeared for the victim's family, and advocate Harvinder Chaudhary, who was representing the accused.

Advocate General Jahangir Iqbal Ganai, along with standing counsel Shoeb Alam, appearing for Jammu and Kashmir, had opposed the prayer for a CBI probe and said the SIT of the crime branch was investigating the case. Ganai said the trial could be shifted from Kathua and Jammu to some other district in the state as there were 221 witnesses and most of the statements recorded so far were in Urdu.