IIOJK HC upholds arrest of former bar president Mian Qayoom
Srinagar: The High Court of Indian illegally occupied Jammu and Kashmir has ruled that the arrest of former Bar Association President Advocate Mian Abdul Qayoom in the murder case of Advocate Babar Qadri is legal.
According to Kashmir Media Service, Mian Qayoom had challenged his arrest on June 25, 2024, claiming it was unfair and unlawful. However, in a ruling on February 19, Justice Vinod Chatterji Koul rejected his plea, stating that his arrest and police custody followed proper legal procedures. The court found no violation of his rights.
Mian Qayoom also objected to the repeated extensions of his police custody. But the High Court ruled that he was informed about the reasons for his arrest in time, and the process was recorded on video as per legal norms.
Mian Qayoom was arrested for allegedly being involved in a conspiracy to murder Advocate Babar Qadri in 2020. Qadri, a well-known lawyer and TV panelist, was shot dead at his home in Srinagar on September 24, 2020. A case was filed the same year.
In 2023, the State Investigating Agency (SIA) took over the probe. Qayoom was summoned multiple times before his arrest in June 2024. He later moved the High Court, arguing that he had been cooperating with the investigation and that there was no reason to arrest him. However, the court dismissed his arguments, stating that further investigation in the case was justified. It ruled that continuing the probe, even after an earlier chargesheet did not name Qayoom, was necessary to uncover the truth. With this ruling, Qayoom’s petition challenging his arrest and the investigation was dismissed.
It should be noted that Mian Qayyum was previously arrested on August 5, 2019, after the abrogation of Jammu and Kashmir’s special status and was kept in jail for several years.
After his release from jail, attempts are now being made to implicate him in this false case.
