Jammu:
The main Opposition party in Jammu and Kashmir - the PDP - is taking out a rally in Srinagar today to protest against the custodial death of National Conference member Syed Mohammed Yousuf Shah. The protesters are being led by Mehbooba Mufti and other party leaders.
Syed Mohammed Yousuf Shah died while in police custody early on Friday morning. He was handed over to the Crime Branch by Chief Minister Omar Abdullah for allegedly promising two party members senior positions in the government in exchange for huge amounts of money. An initial post-mortem report says the National Conference member probably died of a cardio-respiratory arrest or heart attack. It said there were no visible external injuries.
The PDP has slammed Mr Abdullah for the controversy and has demanded his resignation. "There are allegations that he (Omar Abdullah) manhandled the person. The Chief Minister has acted as judge and jury," said PDP leader Mehbooba Mufti.
The Chief Minister has however rubbished these allegations and said they were beneath contempt and that he would sue for defamation.
"No one asked for this inquiry, we acted suo motu... I have requested the Chief Justice that it should be done by a sitting judge of the High Court. If we had anything to hide, we would not have ordered a judicial enquiry by a High Court judge. I acted as responsibly as I was expected to," he has said.
As the controversy over the custodial death gets uglier, there are now questions over whether Abdullah government's decision to set up a judicial probe is just a move to buy time.
Speaking to NDTV about the decision, Justice (Retired) Bilal Nazki, former Chief Justice of Orissa High Court, said the process of setting up a probe by a sitting High Court judge is very complicated and could take a very long time. He said a sitting judge cannot take such an assignment unless he is requested by the President of India. And the President will not request unless the union Cabinet asks for it. He also cited a Supreme Court judgment that says if sitting judges start commissions of inquiry, it may affect the independence of judiciary itself.