A day after the Jammu & Kashmir Government cleared the appointment of Aseem Sawhney, counsel of one of the accused in the Kathua rape and murder case, as Additional Advocate General, former Chief Minister and PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti reacted strongly against the decision claiming such a move will only encourage ‘rape’ culture rampant in society.
The appointment of 16 new law officers for the Jammu wing of the J&K High Court was cleared by the Department of law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs after seeking nod from the Governor’s administration on Tuesday.
Soon after the names of the law officers were made public many eyebrows were raised in the corridors of power.
The decision also attracted wide spread condemnation from various quarters. Social media warriors also took to different platforms questioning the ‘real’ motive behind the move.
Mehbooba also wrote series of tweets urging the Governor NN Vohra to intervene in the matter.
“Rewarding those who defend alleged murderers & rapists is abhorrent & a shocking violation of the spirit of justice. Such a move will only serve to encourage the rape culture rampant in our society. Expect the @jandkgovernor to intervene”, tweeted Mehbooba Mufti.
In another tweet Mehbooba said, “Ironic that a day after celebrating World Day for International Justice, the defence counsel in the horrific rape & murder Kathua case has been appointed as Additional Advocate General”.
Hitting back Aseem Sawhney responded to Mehbooba’s barbs. “I am a lawyer or an accusedIJ “Be nice to me, I may be your lawyer one day as a saying goes. @MehboobaMufti”
Defending himself Assem Sawhney in another tweet claimed, “Had not been conducting #Rassana_trial since July 2 due to preoccupations in High Court, moreover having been a lawyer for one of accused does it make a lawyer an accused too. lawyers are professionals and can’t refuse briefs. As AAG will now not contest any case against State”.
He also reminded former Chief Minister, “By this logic none should defend Kasab, Afzal, Dawood, Salman, Sanjay Dutt or any other accused @MehboobaMufti”.
Interestingly, former Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti was also cornered by netizens over her outburst in the social media. A famous Dogra activist Manu Khajuria questioned her by tweeting in response, “Madam which Khap panchayat are you headingIJ You are prematurely and with a shocking impunity repeatedly pronouncing who is guilty. You are violating human rights by challenging the right to defence. Innocent until proven guilty even more so in a convoluted, politicised case like this”.
Another popular voice on the twitter from Jammu & Kashmir, vice-president J&K National Conference and former CM Omar Abdullah wrote a message in response to a tweet, “the decision is both inexplicable and worrisome but if the victims’ lawyer is not unduly concerned by this development the rest of us should just let her get on with the job of ensuring justice for the young victim.”