Srinagar: Jammu and Kashmir High Court has put its order regarding resumption of physical hearing in abeyance amid surge in covid-19 cases.

As per an order by Chief Justice Pankaj Mithal, the hearing of cases in the High Court of Jammu & Kashmir as well as in the District and Subordinate Courts and Tribunals shall be conducted through “Virtual Mode” for time being.

“Entry of litigants and public into the Court premises from the very outer gate shall continue to be prohibited,” reads an order, a copy of which lies with GNS.

In addition to virtual hearing, the Chief Justice said that the matters may also be taken up for physical hearing, where the counsel for both the parties to the case give their consent for such physical hearing. “if counsel for either party declines or fails to give such consent in that event the roster bench may consider the request of other counsel for physical hearing,” the order reads

Identification of cases for physical hearing shall be done by the concerned Registrar Judicial a day before the date of listing, the order said.

“Advocates concerned in a particular case, who intend to get their case listed for physical hearing, shall give written consent for physical appearance and provide the requisite detail of the case to the concerned Registrar Judicial through email at least two days before the date of listing.”

The Registrar Judicial concerned, then, shall provide list of such counsel whose cases are listed for physical hearing, well in time to the incharge Security at the main gate to facilitate entry of such counsel, it said.

“In order to decongest the sections/ offices /Courts, the officials shall be permitted to function in batches with 25 percent reduction on rotation basis.”

The roster in this regard, the order said, shall be formulated by the Registrar Judicial of the concerned wing.

“The officials, who as per the roster are not on duty in the office, shall not leave the station and shall remain available on telephone and electronic means of communication at all times.”

The staff on duty and the counsel appearing physically in Court shall take necessary precautions, ensure physical distancing, wearing of mask and observance of SOPs and guidelines issued by the respective Governments (J&K and Ladakh) from time to time.”

Regarding district and Subordinate Courts and Tribunals in J&K and Ladakh, the CJ‘s order said that entry of litigants and public into the Court premises from the very outer gate shall continue to be prohibited. “Pr. District & Sessions Judges, taking into consideration the urgency involved, apart from virtual hearing, may, where the counsel for the parties /parties in person involved give their consent to appear for physical hearing, permit physical hearing in Criminal trials where accused is /are in Custody, Matrimonial Cases, MACT Cases, Cases under Section 138 of the Negotiable Instruments Act, Compromise matters or in any other matter as deemed desirable in the courts under their jurisdiction.” The courts under the supervision of concerned Pr. District & Sessions Judge, the order said, shall devise their own mechanism for listing of cases for physical hearing after taking consent of respective counsel, subject to their own assessment of prevailing local conditions including the intensity of COVID-19 infection. “The staff on duty in courts and the counsel appearing physically shall take necessary precautions, ensure physical distancing, wearing of mask and observance of SOPs and guidelines issued by the respective Governments from time to time.”

In order to decongest the sections/ offices of the Courts, the officials working in the Subordinate Courts, shall be permitted to function in batches with 25 percent reduction on rotation basis, the order added. (GNS)

Srinagar: A woman and her 6-year-old son were charred to death when six houses were gutted in a devastating fire in the uptown Srinagar in the wee hours of Monday, official sources said.

They said fire broke out in a house of one Ghulam Mohammad Sheikh at Dogerpati Haftchinar area in uptown Srinagar at about 0030 hrs. However, fire spread to other adjacent houses before the fire tenders could control the leaping flames.

Police personnel from the nearby Shergari police station and locals from adjoining  areas joined the operation to douse the flames.

Wife of Sheikh identified as 40-year-old Ajmeera and son Mohammad Abbas Sheikh (Six) who were sleeping in their house, made mostly of wood, could not be rescued after roof collapsed, they said.

Fire tenders from different parts of the city, including Fire and Emergency Department, Batmaloo extinguished the fire.

However, the duo were rescued in a critical burn injuries and taken to SMHS hospital where they were declared brought dead.

They said six houses and other household goods worth lakhs of rupees had been damaged in the fire.

The cause of fire was not known, sources said adding police has registered a case and initiated proceedings.

Meanwhile, officials from District Administration have reached the spot to assess the damage and provided temporary shelters and other relief material to the affected families.

Srinagar: In a first, Government has decided to shun the requirement of physical movement of files records from Jammu to Srinagar and vice-versa.
“It has been decided to completely switch over to e-office by 15^th of April, 2021. To ensure its timely implementation all record files of various government departments have been digitized except some files records which are sensitive/confidential in nature and requires to be carried to Srinagar,” KNS quoted officials as having said.
“While finalizing Darbar Move arrangements, it has been decided that only ten trucks shall be arranged for shifting such sensitive record files to Srinagar,” officials added.
They said that all the Administrative Secretaries have been asked to compile a list of such confidential/sensitive files records, including files/records of respective subordinate move offices.  (KNS)

Exercise will us to support genuine publications: Joint Director

Srinagar: Teams of officials of Information & Public Relations Department on Monday visited newspaper offices and checked their documents and infrastructure related to publication and printing of the newspapers and also the authenticity of manpower available with the newspapers.

The officials checked records related to printing and publication and also the infrastructure available there.
They also discussed several issues with editors of newspapers.
Letters about the inspection were mailed by the Information Department last week.
Meanwhile, the Information Department has extended the last date for submitting applications and documents under the new J&K media policy for fresh empanelment of newspaper till April 20.

Talking to KNS, Joint Director Information & Public Relations Haris Handoo said, “The exercise is being carried out to check office infrastructure and staff employed by the newspapers and publications. This would enable the department to support genuine publications who are running their newspapers professionally”.

Jammu: Director Information and Public Relations, Rahul Pandey and other staff members of the  department have condoled sudden demise of Zahoor-u-Din, an employee of the department who passed away today.
In this connection, a condolence meet was chaired by the Director in the Media Complex DIPR in which all the officers and employees participated.
The officers and employees expressed deep sorrow and grief over the demise of Zahoor-u-Din who was working in RR section of the department.
The officers and employees on the occasion highlighted his contributions in the department and said that his death is a great loss to the department. They added that Zahoor-u-Din was an asset to the department who always performed his duties professionally and diligently.
The officers and employees also offered their deepest condolences to the bereaved family and prayed for eternal peace to the departed soul and courage for the bereaved family to bear this irreparable loss.

Srinagar: Lt Governor Manoj Sinha on Monday said that Jammu and Kashmir is heading towards a new era of development and prosperity.
An official spokesman said this evening that Member Parliament (Lok Sabha) Amroha, Kunwar Danish Ali called on LG Sinha here at Raj Bhavan.
The MP discussed with the Lt Governor about various issues of public importance. He also shared his views on the present development scenario of the UT.
The Lt Governor said that J&K is witnessing a wave of positive change with the Government taking several reformative measures for socio-economic development, besides empowering the people of the UT.

Srinagar: World famous ski resort of Gulmarg and other upper reaches received fresh light snowfall while rain lashed plains in the summer capital, Srinagar, and other parts of Kashmir.
However, the mercury during the night improved and settled several degrees above normal across the valley, where sun played hide and seek in plains, including Srinagar, in the afternoon, resulting in some respite from chilly weather conditions.
A Met department spokesperson told UNI that a fresh Western Disturbance (WD), which originated from the Arabian Sea and approached the region through Afghanistan and Pakistan, is active in the region. ‘Under the influence of this WD, light rain and thundershowers would occur on Monday at most places in the valley,’ he said.
He said the system will intensify and would result in moderate rain, snow and thunderstorm with gusty winds (30-40 km/hour) for 48 hours from Tuesday in the valley. ‘The system is likely to cause heavy rain and snow mainly in the upper reaches of Kashmir, including world famous ski resort of Gulmarg, tourist resort of Sonmarg, Baramulla, Gurez and Tulail valley in Bandipora, Karnah sector in Kupwara, Shopian, Qazigund-Banihal axis, Pirpanjal range of Jammu,’ he said.
He said the weather would result in temporary disruption of surface traffic on Kashmir highway, and Sadhna top for three days from Monday. ‘There would be landslides and shooting stones on Srinagar-Jammu national highway,’ he said, adding water-logging would occur in low-lying areas in Kashmir valley.
He said wet weather would also result in suspension of agricultural and horticultural operations.
Much to the delight of tourists, Gulmarg, which is about 55 km from here in north Kashmir, received fresh snowfall last night, resulting in dip in the night temperature. The ski resort was the only place in the valley where the night temperature dipped and settled below freezing point. Against 0.5 degree recorded on Sunday, the night temperature in Gulmarg dipped and settled at minus 0.5 degree, which is still slightly above normal.
‘The weather is cloudy since this morning in Gulmarg, which is covered under several feet of snow. But, despite chilly weather conditions, tourists are out on ski slopes enjoying different snow-related activities,’ a hotelier said.

Razdan top on Bandipora-Gurez road, Sadhna top, Z-Gali and Phirkiyan pass – connecting dozens of far-flung and remote border villages in Kupwara also recovered 6 to 8 inches of fresh snowfall overnight.

After witnessing light rain overnight, people woke up to a chilly and cloudy Monday morning in the summer capital, Srinagar. However, as the day progressed sun played hide and seek, resulting in some respite from chilly weather conditions. The mercury in the city during the night remained constant at 7.2 degree, which is about a degree above normal.

He said the moderate rain and thundershowers would occur during the next 24 hours in Srinagar, where the maximum and minimum temperatures would be around 10 degree and 7 degree, respectively.

World famous health resort of Pahalgam, about 100 km from here in south Kashmir, also received fresh rainfall over night though the mercury improved about 4 degree from Sunday and settled at 4.8 degree, which is 3 degree above normal.

The mercury at Qazigund, gateway to the valley, Kupwara in north Kashmir and tourist resort of Kokernag improved and settled at 7.2 degree, 5.2 degree and 5.7 degree, respectively.

Srinagar, Apr 5: Jammu and Kashmir Police have arrested two girls from Central Kashmir’s Budgam district in connection with a militant attack on BJP leader last week. The attack had left one police cop dead while his rifle was also taken away by the militants, although the police claimed the recovery of said rifle from slain militants in Pulwama a day after the attack.
Sources told Kashmir dot Com (KDC) that two girls were arrested by police station Nowgam in connection with a case FIR number 27/2021 under sections 307, 302, 392 of IPC and 7/27 of Arms Act, which was registered in connection with the attack on Bhartiya Janta Party leader, Anwar Khan last week.
Sources added that one among the arrested girls is a nursing student and is pursuing her studies in Chadoora area of Budgam.
Meanwhile, SSP Srinagar did not respond to repeated calls and texts from this news agency.

Srinagar: Jammu and Kashmir High Court has ordered that vehicles seized for carrying illegal construction material along Dal Lake or its adjoining areas shall be released against Rs 50000 fine in the first instance and Rs one lakh for repeating the offence. If the offence is repeated third time, the vehicle shall not be released until completion of trial.

“It is pertinent to mention here that the vehicles are being detained and seized only on the ground of disobedience of an order of the public servant i.e., of the court in the present case under Section 188 of RPC which is pari-materia with Section 188 of IPC. However, Section 188 do not specifically provides for the seizure and therefore the seizure is only on account of the directions given by this Court in the PIL.

PIL,” said a bench of Chief Justice Pankaj Mithal and Justice Vinod Chatterji Koul, as per GNS.

“A Division Bench of Jammu Wing of this court has directed that all applications for the release of vehicles (carrying illegal construction material) shall be moved before the competent Magistrate who shall deal with those applications independently on merits on the analogy of the provisions of Section 457 of the Code of Criminal Procedure but shall not release any vehicle without realizing the composite amount of Rs. 50,000/- in the case of first time violation and Rs. 1.00 lacs in the case of second time violation and to confiscate if the offence is repeated for third time and not to release it until the completion of the investigation pursuant to the FIR or the trial thereof.”

Accordingly, the court said that since the matter of release of vehicle is a Magisterial act and is dependent upon the outcome of the FIR lodged against the driver/owner of the vehicle.

“we provide that henceforth all applications for the release of vehicles seized for carrying building material for violation of the directions of this court, would be filed before the concerned Magistrate who is dealing or is supposed to deal with the investigation pursuant to the relevant FIR, but he shall not release it without asking for security of Rs. 50,000/- in the case of first offence, Rs. 1.00 lacs in the case of second offence and that in the event the offence is repeated for the third time, the vehicle shall not be released until and unless the final report is submitted and accepted of the accused is acquitted in the trial.”

Srinagar: Bomb Disposal Squad (BDS) of Jammu and Kashmir Police on Monday late afternoon recovered a suspicious box which was lying on road in Khayar area of Kashmir capital Srinagar.

Sources told Kashmir Dot Com (KDC) that soon after receiving information about the presence of some suspicious box in Khanyar locality, forces along with BDS rushed towards the spot.
Sources said that the BDS took away with them the suspicious bag for further proceedings. (KDC)