India, March 21 -- The Supreme Court has upheld the acquittal of six people who were charged with alleged roles in the abduction and murder of Kashmir University vice-chancellor Mushir-ul-Haq and his secretary Abdul Gani Zargar in 1990, citing procedural lapses in the confessions recorded under the Terrorists and Disruptive Activities (Prevention) Act (TADA) that lapsed in 1995. A special court in Jammu acquitted the six in 2009.

Mohammad Salim Zargar, Mushtaq Ahmed Khan, Shabir Bhat, Abdul Aziz Dar, Qadir Mir, and Mohammad Sadiq Rather were also acquitted in a separate case related to the abduction and murder of Hindustan Machine Tools general manager H L Khera in 1990. The Supreme Court had upheld the acquittals in that case too on the...