Now Reading: Jammu NDPS court warns of contempt over missing public prosecutor
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Jammu NDPS court warns of contempt over missing public prosecutor
A Special NDPS Court at Jammu has warned senior prosecution officers that failing to provide a public prosecutor on the next hearing date will invite contempt proceedings. The court acted after no…
The Story in Brief
A Special NDPS Court at Jammu has warned senior prosecution officers that failing to provide a public prosecutor on the next hearing date will invite contempt proceedings. The court acted after no prosecutor appeared despite the accused, defence counsel, and a prosecution witness from Srinagar being present.
The Special Public Prosecutor had taken four days' leave with no substitute arranged. The Department of Prosecution cited a Home Department communication it claimed curtailed its power to make temporary arrangements. The court rejected this reading, calling it an out-of-context interpretation, and noted that 12 prosecution witnesses remained unexamined as a result.
The Indian Opinion
The usual blame-the-babus narrative misses the point: a Home Department circular did not strip the prosecution department of authority, it merely tried to regulate transfers and postings. A lazy reading of that circular froze a criminal trial, kept witnesses waiting, and left an undertrial languishing. The real test is whether the Director General (Prosecution) now acts on this judicial prodding or continues to hide behind bureaucratic confusion.
Source: livelaw.in
This story was synthesised by AI from the source linked above.
