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Srinagar, July 2: The Jammu and Kashmir High Court will tomorrow hear the sex racket case being investigated by the CBI and also take up the bail pleas of two former ministers and others arrested in connection with the scandal.

A division bench, comprising Justice Bashir Ahmed Kirmani and Justice Hakim Imtiyaz Hussain, will also hear an application by senior Indian Administrative Officer (IAS) Iqbal Khanday, also arrested by the CBI in connection with the flesh trade scandal, for seeking a lawyer to plead his case.

The hearing on the case was adjourned on Friday as Justice Hussain was out of the town and hence not present in the court.

The CBI has so far arrested several top politicians, civil, police and paramilitary officials in connection with the case.

Among the arrested are former Jammu and Kashmir ministers and sitting legislators Ghulam Ahmed Mir and Raman Mattoo, Principal Secretary in the Planning and Development Department Iqbal Khanday, sacked state Additional Advocate General Anil Sethi, BSF DIG K C Padhi, Jammu and Kashmir Police DSP Mohammad Ashraf Mir, J&K Police Counter-Insurgency Kashmir (CIK) wing DSP Mohammad Yousuf Mir and Naaz Hotel manager Riyaz Kawa.

Since the last hearing, the CBI has twice -- on June 26 and June 28 -- submitted the status reports to the High Court indicating the progress made in the investigations into the sex racket case.

The report was submitted in a sealed cover to a division bench, comprising which is monitoring the sex racket case, by Assistant Solicitor General of India and CBI counsel Shabir A Naik.

The bail pleas of the sex racket accused had been referred to the division bench by Chief Judicial Magistrate (CJM), Srinagar Mohammad Yousuf Akhoon on June 23.

Mir, a former Minister of State for Raods and Buildings and a Congress legislator from Dooru in Anantnag district, was arrested by the CBI from the Jammu and Kashmir House at Chanakyapuri in New Delhi on June 20.

Mattoo, a former Minister of State for Industries and Commerce and an independent legislator from Habba Kadal in Srinagar, was also arrested by the CBI from his residence at Gupkar here on June 20.

The DIG BSF had surrendered before the CBI here on June 7 while Sethi, who was evading arrest since a proclamation notice was issued against him on June 14 by CJM following a request by the CBI, also surrendered in a local court at Jammu on June 21.

On June 29, the CBI arrested Khanday, an IAS officer of 1978 batch. He had served on several top posts, including the Principal Secretary to former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed and was the first person from the Valley to have qualified in the Civil Services examination.

On the same day, the CBI also arrested Kawa from the Jammu airport. Both were arrested under section five of the Immoral Traffic (Prevention) Act.

On June 30, the agency sleuths arrested CIK DSP Mir from his office at Hari Niwas here.

The sex racket case was handed over to the CBI by Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad on May one following allegations that politicians, bureaucrats besides senior police and paramilitary officials were involved in the scandal.

As soon as the scandal surfaced, massive demonstrations erupted in the entire Kashmir valley and the angry protestors brought down the houses of alleged sex racket kingpin Sabeena at Habba Kadal in the old city on June 5.

On May three, the Jammu and Kashmir High Court took a suo motu cognisance of the case and then on May 12 admitted a public interest litigation filed by the Kashmir Bar Association.

Since then, the High Court is hearing the sex racket case and monitoring the investigations into the scandal by the CBI.

UNI