Court to record statements of defence witnesses from March 23

KT NEWS SERVICE. Dated: 3/22/2017 11:42:26 PM

SRINAGAR, Mar 22: A city court has listed Common Entrance Test (CET) paper leak scam case of 2012 for recording of defence witnesses tomorrow.
Sources in the court said that after concluding recording of the prosecution witnesses and arguments under Section 342 CrPC, the court has now listed the matter for defence witnesses from March 23.
Pertinently, the scam had led to the arrest of the then chairman of Board of Professional Entrance Examination (BOPEE) Mushtaq Ahmad Pir.
On May 28, 2016 the court had reserved its order in a bail plea filed by Peer. On July 16, 2015, the Enforcement Directorate had filed charge-sheet in the court of principal district and session judge Srinagar against Peer, for his alleged role in selling CET question papers.
During its investigation it was found that Peer leaked question papers of prestigious entrance exams in Jammu and Kashmir for illegal gratification of Rs 60 lakhs. The directorate had already attached properties worth around Rs 60 lakhs of Peer, which are related to proceeds of the crime.
The charge sheet was filed under various section of Prevention of Money Laundering Act, six months after the Enforcement Directorate (ED) had registered a case against Peer which was based on an FIR of the Jammu and Kashmir Police.
The agency has named Peer's daughter Iqra in the charge sheet alleging that the money of the proceeds of crime were sent to her bank account.
In its FIR, the ED had sought to continue investigations in the case to establish the role of other suspects including middlemen in the case.
ED had identified Peer's assets and cash in bank accounts in Delhi and Kashmir and issued attachment orders identifying them as proceeds of crime derived from alleged corruption money of the scam.
Crime Branch has already completed investigation of 2012 paper selling scam and charge-sheeted 60 accused in trial court of Special Judge Anti-Corruption Kashmir including 29 students, 24 parents and 6 brokers besides the principal accused Peer, the then chairman of the BOPEE.
Nine minors were separately charge-sheeted in the Court of Chief Judicial Magistrate Srinagar. In 2013, the crime branch had registered an FIR in the scam after establishing prima-facie involvement of the persons whose names had cropped up during preliminary investigations.
On May 24, 2016 the High Court granted bail to Peer. In his order, Justice Tashi Rabstan imposed many conditions on Peer including that he cannot leave district Srinagar and he should surrender his passport before the court of Special Judge, Anti-Corruption, Kashmir, Srinagar, within a week.
“The applicant (Peer) shall not directly or indirectly make any inducement, threat or promise to any person acquainted with the facts of the case so as to dissuade him to disclose such facts to the court or to any other authority. He shall not do anything directly or indirectly to influence the witnesses for the prosecution nor to tamper with the evidence to be adduced against him,” the High Court has said in its bail order.
The court had said: “The applicant shall remain present before the court on the dates fixed for hearing of the case, for any reason due to unavoidable circumstances for remaining absent has to give intimation to the court and make a proper application for permission to be present through counsel.”

 

Video

The Gaza Crisis and the Global Fallout... Read More
 

FACEBOOK

 

Daily horoscope

 

Weather