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Supreme Court fast-tracks murder
case trial against Jagir Kaur
WSN Network
 NEW DELHI: At a
time when high profile influential people managing to delay the
trials in cases against them is the stuff of staple reports in
Indian media, the case of former SGPC president Bibi Jagir Kaur who
was accused of killing her own daughter because she alegedly married
a man Kaur did not approve of, is once again in the spot light.
Last week,
India's Supreme Court directed the Special CBI Court in Patiala to
complete the murder trial against Bibi Jagir Kaur within six months.
A Bench headed
by Justice Dalveer Bhandari disposed of a petition filed by
Kanwaljit Singh -- who had claimed to have married Jagir Kaur's
daughter -- which had initially sought cancellation of her
anticipatory bail. The petition was filed before the Supreme Court
two years ago.
However, since
the trial has proceeded and Jagir Kaur has received regular bail,
the SC preferred to pass directions for speedy trial. The Bench
said: "We direct the court to conclude the case as expeditiously as
possible, i.e., within six months."
The order came
after Kanwaljit's counsel, senior advocate Nidhesh Gupta, accused
Jagir Kaur of threatening his client. He told the court: "Several
key witnesses have turned hostile. A key witness in the case, a
doctor, had given a statement on oath before a magistrate in Delhi
supporting the CBI case against Jagir Kaur. During the trial, he
retracted from the statement."
Gupta added that
Jagir Kaur had never been arrested in the case and was on bail for
the past 10 years. "This is completely unheard of. As she is out on
bail, all witnesses are being threatened and pressured to turn
hostile," he alleged.
Jagir Kaur's
daughter, Harpreet Kaur was reported to have died under mysterious
circumstances on April 21, 2000, and was hurriedly cremated the same
day without any autopsy being conducted. Jagir Kaur was president of
the SGPC at the time.
Investigation of
the case was transferred to the CBI on June 5, 2000, by the High
Court and the agency filed the chargesheet on January 31, 2001.
Kanwaljit had alleged Jagir Kaur was misusing the bail and there had
been attempts on his life.
13
January 2010
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