CHANDIGARH, MARCH 21: As directed by the CBI, charges against all the accused in the J-K sex scandal were framed in the Court of District and Sessions Judge B S Mehandiratta today.

Charges under Section 5 of the Prevention of Immoral Trafficking Act (PITA) along with charges of rape under Section 376 of the Indian Penal Code have been framed against seven of the accused. The seven are: Anil Sethi, former additional advocate general; K C Padhi, DIG, BSF; Shabir Ahmed Langoo; Shabir Ahmed Laway; Meharazzudin Malik; Masood Ahmed and suspended DSP Mohammad Ashraf Mir.

Whereas charges under Sections 3,4, and 5 of PITA along with charges of criminal conspiracy under Section 120-B of the IPC have been framed against Sabeena, her husband Abdul Hamid Bulla faces charges of criminal conspiracy and rape. Sabeena and Bulla are accused of procuring sex workers and running a brothel in their house.

Charges under Section 5 of PITA have been framed against four accused: Iqbal Khandey, principal secretary; Mohammad Yousuf Mir, former DSP, and two sitting MLAs Raman Mattoo and G A Mir. However, only charges under Section 3 have been framed against Riaz Ahmed Kawa. An additional section of Information Technology (IT) Act, Section 67, has been framed against Shabeer Ahmed Langoo who is accused of clicking obscene pictures of the ‘minor’ girl with a mobile phone and then circulating it.

While maximum sentence under Section 3 of PITA is three years, an imprisonment of 14 years can be awarded to an accused held guilty under Section 5 of the PITA if the victim is found to be a minor. If the victim is found to be a child then the accused can be sentenced life imprisonment. Moreover, even if the victim is not found to be a minor but charges of prostitution are established, the accused can be sentenced an imprisonment of seven years. With the framing of the present set of charges, the CBI will have more options on its table. The prosecution will attempt to prove rape charges against the seven accused and if it fails to do so it can try establish charges of prostitution under Section 5

of PITA.

The Court has adjourned the case to April 7 when the victim will be examined as per directions of the Punjab and Haryana High Court.

The defence counsels claim that they will shortly be filing a revision petition in the High Court challenging the charges and seeking their quashing. “We were expecting discharge. However, we accept our fate as there is no other option left for us” was the disappointed reply of one of the accused.