Slap gate incident: BDO assaulted by SDPO: HC stays proceedings in chargesheet filed by Police against JKAS officer
08/07/2026
JAMMU, Jul 7: The High Court of Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh has stayed further proceedings before a trial court in a chargesheet filed against JKAS officer Azhar Khan and another government official in connec-tion with an FIR registered at Police Station Gandhi Nagar, Jammu.
Justice M.A. Chowdhary passed the interim order in a petition seeking quashing of Final Report (Challan) No. 85/2026 dated June 23, 2026, arising out of FIR No. 245/2025, registered on November 10, 2025. The chargesheet is pending before the court of the Judicial Magistrate, 3rd Additional Munsiff, Jammu.
The case relates to an incident involving Azhar Khan, who was serving as Block Development Officer (BDO), Nagrota, at the relevant time. According to the petition, Khan and another official were on election duty when an altercation took place near Gandhi Nagar.
The petitioners alleged that the chargesheet was filed as a counter to the incident in which the then Sub-Divisional Police Officer (SDPO), Gandhi Nagar, Sunil Singh Jasrotia, allegedly assaulted them in public. They submitted that the police officer was later attached and subsequently suspended by the government.
Senior Advocate Aseem Kumar Sawhney, assisted by Advocates Mohd. Kashif Malik, Tehseena Bukhari, Khushboo Sharma and Mohd. Imnan, appearing for the petitioners, argued that the investigation was unfair, one-sided and conducted in a partisan manner. They contended that crucial CCTV footage, defence material and representations submitted by the petitioners were not properly considered before the filing of the chargesheet.
The petitioners further submitted that the criminal proceedings amounted to an abuse of the process of law and that the chargesheet had been filed in haste without considering the complete facts of the case. They also argued that sanction was required for prosecution as Azhar Khan was a public servant and the alleged incident had a nexus with his official duties during election deployment.
Deputy Advocate General Pawan Dev Singh appeared for respondents Nos. 1 and 2 and waived notice on their behalf. The High Court granted four weeks' time to the respondents to file objections. Notice was also issued to respondent No. 3, returnable within four weeks.
After hearing the parties, Justice Chowdhary directed that "meanwhile, until further orders, proceedings before the trial court are ordered to be kept in abeyance."
The matter has been listed for further hearing on August 11, 2026.
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