NEW DELHI: Only the lawyers representing the accused in the brutal Kathua rape and murder of an eight-year-old girl will be allowed inside the district and session court at Pathankot, the Supreme Court said today.
The direction came after the counsel of Jammu and Kashmir informed a bench headed by Chief Justice Dipak Misra that as many as seven lawyers each were accompanying the accused inside the court room.
Senior advocate Shekhar Naphade and standing counsel Shoeb Alam, who submitted a status report to the court in a sealed cover, also alleged that the presence of so many lawyers on behalf of the accused was detrimental to fair trial as witnesses who were appearing before the judge for recording their statements were feeling threatened. (AGENCIES)
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