New Delhi: In a damning indictment of the judicial and executive machinery in Indian illegally occupied Jammu and Kashmir, the Supreme Court of India has expressed serious displeasure over an undertrial prisoner languishing in jail for seven years without conclusion of his trial.
According to Kashmir Media Service, the apex court observed that Anoop Singh, arrested in 2018 on murder charges, has remained behind bars for seven years while the prosecution has examined only four out of 19 witnesses. The bench questioned the IIOJK government and the concerned trial court over the inordinate delay, warning that the government and prosecuting agency would be “taken to task” if they failed to provide satisfactory justification.
Legal observers say the case epitomizes how the judiciary and executive in IIOJK function in tandem to punish individuals through prolonged incarceration rather than due process, reducing the concept of a “speedy trial” to a hollow slogan. It seems authorities allowed the case to stagnate, effectively converting undertrial detention into a de facto sentence.