Responding to the groundswell of public anger over the sex abuse scandal allegedly involving top politicians, senior police officers and bureaucrats, the J-K High Court today decided to monitor the investigation into the case by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on a daily basis. It has also ordered the recording of the statements of the two girls (the victim and racket kingpin Sabina) before a judicial magistrate.

And to start with, the CBI has to furnish a status report in the probe so far to the high court by 12.30 pm on Tuesday.

The CBI was also directed to record the statements of the two under its custody before a judicial magistrate under Section 164 of the CrPC.

The order was passed by a Division Bench comprising Justice B A Kirmani and Justice Hakeem Imtiaz Hussain on a PIL filed by the HC Bar Association and HC’s own suo motu notice of the scandal. The hearing, held in two sittings, lasted the entire day.

The prosecution, led by Bar president Mian Abdul Qayoom, sought the constitution of the Special Investigation Team by the high court to monitor the investigations and also a direction for revealing the names of the politicians, police officers and the bureaucrats involved.

Agreeing with the Bar, the court, in its order, said the CBI should not exclusively deal with the case and that the J-K Police officer and a judicial officer of ‘‘reputed integrity’’ should be associated with process.

However, the order on this was reserved for Tuesday’s hearing. The court also asked the media to exercise restraint. ‘‘No hearsay or unconfirmed reports be published, which are likely to hamper the investigations or cause harm/injury to any innocent person,’’ the order said.

... contd.