Former Kashmir HC Bar chief held

Srinagar: J&K Police on Tuesday arrested Mian Abdul Qayoom Bhat, a prominent lawyer and former president of Kashmir High Court Bar Association in connection with the 2020 murder of another lawyer, Babar Qadri. Qayoom’s son-in-law Javed Iqbal Wani is a serving HC judge.
Qadri was a long-time rival in the bar who had challenged Qayoom’s stranglehold on the association, alleging the latter held his post for years by manipulating its elections.Qayoom was also affiliated to the Hurriyat Conference faction led by the late Syed Ali Shah Geelani and had authored its constitution in 1993.
Qayoom, in his late 70s, was picked up by a team of J&K Police’s State Investigation Agency (SIA), whose top officers are handling the probe.
Qadri was shot dead at his Srinagar home in Sept 2020 by two men who came posing as clients. Days before his murder, Qadri, a well-known HC lawyer and TV panellist, had posted a video alleging how Qayoom rigged the Bar elections. tnn