SC dismisses CBI appeal against acquittal of JKSLF members in former KU VC Mushir-ul-Haq murder case

Srinagar, March 21: The Supreme Court on Thursday rejected an appeal which was filed by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) against the acquittal of members of the banned Jammu & Kashmir Students Liberation Front (JKSLF) in the kidnapping and murder case of the then Kashmir University (KU) Vice Chancellor (VC) Dr Mushir-ul-Haq and his personal secretary.

The appeal has been dismissed by a bench of Justices Abhay S Oka and Ujjal Bhuyan which found no merit in the CBI case that was registered under the repealed Terrorist and Disruptive Activities (Prevention) Act, 1987.

The Court observed that it doesn’t find any error in the view “taken by the Special Court in acquitting the respondents, Mohd Salim Zargar alias Fayaz and others."
The appeal came in the case of KU Vice Chancellor and his personal secretary Abdul Gani who were kidnapped by militants on April 6, 1990, for release of their associates. Subsequently, as  their demands were not met, they were killed on April 10 of the same year.

Earlier six accused Abdul Aziz Dar, Gulam Qadir Mir, Shabir Ahmed Bhat, Mohd. Sadiq Rather, Mushtaq Ahmed Khan and Mohd. Salim Zargar were charged under sections 118/302/368/365 of the Ranbir Penal Code and sections 3/4 of the TADA Act.

The accused were acquitted by the Special Court on April 20, 2009, which held that the prosecution could not prove their guilt and rejected the evidence of prosecution witnesses and confessional statements.

The court observed that recording the confessional statements in a BSF camp or a Joint Interrogation Centre (JIC) cannot said to be a free atmosphere.

The court also noted that Zargar was lodged in a BSF camp in Srinagar where his confession was recorded and also rejected the confessional statements of accused Mushtaq Ahmed Khan and Mohd Sadiq Rather.