New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Thursday said its "real concern" was to see that a fair trial was conducted in the Kathua case after the Bar Council of India said the lawyers' body in the district had neither obstructed the Crime Branch from filing the charge sheet nor the advocate representing the victim's family.
A bench headed by Chief Justice Dipak Misra said that if it finds the slightest possibility of lack of fair trial, it will transfer the case out of Kathua.
The bench, also comprising Justices A M Khanwilkar and D Y Chandrachud, said the trial should be fair not only for the accused but also for the victim's family and the protection to them and their lawyers should be ensured.
The bench also considered the issue of alleged obstruction by lawyers in the administration of justice in the case and said," if the lawyers are at fault, they would be dealt under the law".
During the hearing, the apex court said the real issue in the matter was to have a fair trial in the case.
The matter will be next heard on July 30.
The BCI report has said that lawyers' body had neither obstructed the Crime Branch of Jammu and Kashmir police from filing the charge sheet in the court concerned nor the lawyers had obstructed advocate Deepika Singh Rajawat, who is representing the victim's family, from appearing in the matter before the high court there.
Meanwhile, Advocate Shoeb Alam, appearing for the state, opposed the BCI's report and maintained that the police team was heckled allegedly by lawyers due to which they could not file the charge sheet in the trial court.