Stay on Kathua gang rape, plea for transfer to be heard

New Delhi, April 27: The Supreme Court on Friday stayed the trial in the rape and murder of a young girl in Kathua in Jammu and Kashmir as it asked the accused to respond to the plea for the transfer of trial to Chandigarh.

Chief Justice Dipak Misra, Justice D.Y. Chandrachud and Justice Indu Malhotra stayed the trial which was listed for Saturday in Kathua, saying it would hold a hearing on the plea for transfer of trial on May 7.

The victim's father has moved the top court seeking the transfer of trial from Kathua to Chandigarh.

Earlier, the Jammu and Kashmir government had opposed the transfer of the trial saying that the state had a different penal code - Ranbir Penal Code - and transfer of trial would pose inconvenience to the witnesses.