Jammu & Kashmir High Court upholds arrest of ex-Bar President Mian Abdul Qayoom

The High Court of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh has dismissed a plea challenging the arrest of former Bar Association President, Advocate Mian Abdul Qayoom in connection with the Advocate Babar Qadri murder case [Mian Abdul Qayoom v. Union Territory of J&K]..Mian Qayoom had challenged his arrest as illegal and arbitrary. He also challenged trial court orders that remanded him to police custody from time to time after his June 25, 2024 arrest. .In a ruling dated February 19, Justice Vinod Chatterji Koul found that there has been no violation of the Constitution of India or other procedural safeguards in arresting or remanding Qayoom to police custody. The Court found that Qayoom had been furnished with the grounds of his arrest without any delay. Further, it also noted that the police had videographed his arrest as well. "It cannot be heard saying from the petitioner that he was not informed as soon as he was arrested about the grounds of arrest …in the instant case, the respondents have had followed and complied with the provisions of law governed under and in terms of the Code of Criminal Procedure … writ petition insofar as it throws challenge to his arrest or to the grounds of arrest is liable to be dismissed," the High Court held. Similarly, the Court also dismissed Qayoom's challenge to various remand orders."Insofar as remand orders are concerned, those have been reproduced and discussed in detail ... They are well reasoned, need not be interfered with," Justice Koul held. .Qayoom was arrested on allegations that he was part of a conspiracy to assassinate Advocate Babar Qadri in 2020.Qadri, a prominent Jammu and Kashmir High Court-based lawyer and television panellist, was shot dead by unknown gunmen in Srinagar on September 24, 2020, at his residence in Zahidpora, Hawal, Srinagar.A criminal case was registered the same year citing various provisions of the Indian Penal Code, the Arms Act and the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967 (UAPA).In 2023, the investigation into this case was transferred to the State Investigating Agency (SIA), Jammu and Kashmir. Qayoom was summoned by the SIA in connection with this case several times between January and June 2024, before he was arrested on June 25 that year. He proceeded to challenge his arrest before the High Court and prayed that he be released from jail. His counsel claimed that various procedural safeguards were flouted when Qayoom was arrested in June 2024. He added that there was no reason to arrest Qayoom in this case, when the lawyer had been cooperating with the investigation by attending summons issued by the SIA to him from time to time. .The Court, however, dismissed his plea. The Court also rejected a challenge to further investigation undertaken in the case after the submission of an initial chargesheet in May 2021 which had not named Qayoom as an accused. Notably, in 2022, the investigation into the case was taken over by a new Special Investigation Team (SIT) - the SIA. Moreover, in 2023, a special NIA court in Srinagar ordered further investigation into the case, about 26 months after the first chargesheet had been filed in 2021, on an application by Qadri's father. The Court found nothing wrong with the same. "There is no restriction or bar for further investigation even after filing of a charge sheet. The hands of the investigating agency or the Court should not be tied down on the ground that further investigation may delay the trial as the ultimate object is to arrive at the truth," it said. .Accordingly, Qayoom's plea was dismissed by the High Court..Advocates Sakal Bhusha, Rahul Sharma, Bhavesh Bhushan, M Rouf and M Tufail advocates appeared for Qayoom.Senior Additional Advocate General Mohsin Qadri appeared for the respondent-authorities. .[Read Judgment]