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| SC directive in alleged fake encounter of 5 persons in Kashmir | | | Early Times Report
Srinagar, Oct 7: The Supreme Court today ordered families, seeking resumption of court proceeding before a CBI court in the killings of five civilians in an alleged fake encounter by Rashtriya Rifles in March 2000, to serve a copy of the petition to the Centre so that counsel appearing for it can assist the court. The high court in April had dismissed a petition by the families. They have now challenged it through an SLP before the apex court.
The direction by a SC division bench of Justice Dipak Misra and Justice Uday Umesh Lalit followed submission by the counsel of petitioners that the high court was not in consonance with the judgment of this court rendered in the case of General Officer Commanding, Rastriya Rifles v/s Central Bureau of Investigation & Anr. (2012) 6 SCC 288.
"In view of the submission, let a copy of the petition be served on the central agency so that counsel appearing on behalf of the Union of India can assist us," the court said and ordered listing of the case in the first week of next month.
Justice Tashi Rabstan of the high court had said: "The reliefs sought by petitioners in the writ petition concerning cognizance by CBI court and resumption of jurisdiction by CBI court, with further prayer to direct CBI to make an application to Central Government for grant of sanction within four weeks have already been decided by the Apex Court. The SC has given liberty to competent authority in Army to take decision as regards the convening of court martial or adjudication of trial by criminal court. The competent authority in Army opted to try the case by a court martial. Once an option and liberty is given by the Supreme Court, the same issue is not permissible to be opened and taken up again and again."
"If petitioners are aggrieved of order impugned passed by trial magistrate or for that matter of any decision and order of court martial, they are free to avail of appropriate remedy available under applicable rules and law," the court added.
The Army's Court of Inquiry (CoI) had in January 2014 declared the matter of the death of five persons as "closed".
The CBI had earlier established charges of abduction and murder against five Army officials and filed the chargesheet in a designated court in Srinagar in 2006, seeking trial for "exemplary punishment" of the accused.
It had filed the chargesheet against Brig Ajay Saxena, Lt Col Brajendra Pratap Singh, Maj Sourabh Sharma, Maj Amit Saxena and Subedar Idrees Khan for staging the fake encounter and labelling the five persons as foreign terrorists involved in the massacre of 35 members of the Sikh community at Chittisinghpora on March 20, 2000.The Army's CoI had recorded the statements of the witnesses in Kashmir as none of the civilian witnesses agreed to travel to Nagrota, the headquarters of 16 Corps in Jammu, for this purpose. In a statement, the Army had declared the matter as closed "because the evidence recorded could not establish a prime facie case against any of the accused." |
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