Chandigarh court to hear J&K sex racket case on Sept 25

CHANDIGARH: A local court on Saturday fixed September 25 for hearing the Jammu and Kashmir sex racket case, featuring some former Ministers and bureaucrats that has been transferred here on the Supreme Court's direction.

"The hearing in the case will now be taken up by the court here on September 25. The bail applications of the accused will also be taken up the same day," CBI's special prosecutor R K Handa said.

Sessions Judge B S Mehndiratta, who will preside over the trial, said he needed to go through the case files and fixed September 25, according to Handa and another CBI special prosecutor Rajan Malhotra.

The CBI counsels said Srinagar Central jail authorities had sought more time to shift the accused and make security-related arrangements.

Handa said senior J&K bureaucrat Mohammad Iqbal Khanday, who is among the 14 accused whose cases were transferred to Chandigarh, was present in the court on Saturday. He had earlier been granted interim bail.

The Supreme Court on September 4 had transferred the cases of 14 persons, including two former ministers of J&K, from Srinagar to Chandigarh for trial after they were chargesheeted by the CBI.