Srinagar, Feb 20: The Jammu and Kashmir High Court’s Srinagar bench on Wednesday dismissed a habeas corpus writ petition filed by Advocate Mian Abdul Qayoom, former president of the High Court Bar Association (HCBA) and an accused in the much-publicised Babar Qadri murder case.
Qayoom was arrested by the State Investigation Agency (SIA) on June 25, 2024. He was found to be the main conspirator behind the murder of Babar Qadri, a young lawyer who was gunned down by terrorists on September 24, 2020, at his residence in Zahidpora, Hawal, Srinagar.
Qayoom, through a habeas corpus writ petition filed before the Srinagar bench of the J&K High Court (HCP No 331 of 2024 dated 8 October 2024), challenged the legality of his arrest by the SIA and subsequent remands by the trial court. The HCP was filed by Advocate Sakal Bhushan of the Supreme Court of India.
The SIA, in its objections, strongly opposed the petition as the SIT investigating the case had gathered sufficient oral, documentary, and digital evidence implicating Qayoom in the case. Advocate Mohsin Qadri, senior additional advocate general, appeared on behalf of the respondent SIA J&K.
Justice Vinod Chatterjee Koul, while dismissing the petition, upheld the arrest of Mian Qayoom by the SIA SIT and his subsequent remands granted by the special court designated under the NIA Act, Jammu.
The trial and subsequent proceedings in Case FIR No 62/2020 of PS Lal Bazar Srinagar, now SIA Kashmir, famously referred to as the Babar Qadri murder case, were transferred to Jammu from Srinagar by the High Court of J&K in December 2023 after the family members of the deceased faced threats and intimidation in Kashmir.–(News18)
