Kathua case: Lawyer representing rape accused made additional advocate general in Jammu & Kashmir HC
Aseem Sawheny said he had not appeared in the case since July 2 and that his father was the main counsel.
The Jammu and Kashmir administration has appointed Aseem Sawhney, a counsel representing the accused in the Kathua case, as additional advocate general for the Jammu wing of the High Court.
The state Department of Law issued a notification on Tuesday naming 16 advocates for the posts of additional advocates general, deputy advocates general and government advocates. Sawhney, who is pleading the case at a court in Punjab’s Pathankot, has also served as the deputy advocate general in the Jammu and Kashmir High Court.
“Since July 2, I have not appeared in the case,” The Indian Express quoted Sawhney as saying. He said he was only a “chamber counsel’’ in the matter, and his father AK Sawhney is the main counsel.
Asked whether he will withdraw from the case, Sawhney said there is no need for it. “I shall not appear in the case.” Sawhney said he had only examined two of the 10 prosecution witnesses. The other eight were examined by his father, he said.
Eight people, including a minor, are accused of murdering an eight-year-old girl after allegedly raping her over several days in Kathua district in January. The police said in the chargesheet that the accused had kidnapped, drugged, gangraped and then killed the girl.
