New prosecutor named in Sarah Groves murder trial
A NEW public prosecutor has been appointed in the Sarah Groves murder trial, although he was on leave for this week's hearings.
At the second sitting of the court under the new jurisdiction of the Second Additional Magistrate's Court in Srinagar, Mohammad Sultan was named as the new prosecutor.
He replaced Syed Mujeeb Andrabi, who stood down at the hearing at the end of August due to a conflict of interest.
Hearings were scheduled for Monday and Tuesday this week, but Mr Sultan was on leave.
As a result, former prosecutor Syed Maqbool was asked to stand in for the two days of hearings.
But when no witnesses were in court yesterday, judge Tahir Khurshid Raina issued warrants for them to appear today.
Yesterday's hearing was the 101st in the trial of Dutchman Richard de Wit, who denies murder.
'A very disappointing start to proceedings in the new court under a new regime,' said Sarah's father, Vic.
'However, before over-reacting, tomorrow’s proceedings will be assessed.'