Tiff between judge, policemen over parking in J&K, lawyers on strike for 2 days

A dispute between a serving judge and some police officers has disrupted courts in Jammu and Kashmir's Poonch district for the past two days. Protesters accuse the police of harassing the judicial officer and demanding action. The incident occurred on Monday evening when police stopped the vehicle of Additional District Judge Wajahat Mir, who was returning from Jammu after escorting a convoy of pilgrims to the Budha Amarnath shrine.

The judge reportedly asked the officers to search his vehicle, but an assistant sub-inspector took away the keys, claiming they had received instructions from senior police officers to stop him. Other judges arrived at the scene to escort Mir, who was traveling in his private vehicle without any police personnel. The police claimed the vehicle was stopped as a security measure to allow the Budha Amarnath yatra to proceed unimpeded, as the convoy was moving behind schedule due to the first day of the yatra.

However, the judge ignored the signal to stop and continued towards Surankote despite the police warning about past militant attacks in the area. The police officer stated that once informed that the person was a judge, the officers allowed him to leave. The yatra, which started on August 16 and is set to end on August 28, faces strict security arrangements due to the threat perception surrounding both yatras.