# The Supreme Court earlier in other cases had ordered that the armed forces could use only minimal force against the person/persons acting in contravention of the prohibitory orders or so.
# “The conferment of the said power (AFSPA) on the Central Government regarding declaration of areas to be disturbed areas does not, however, result in taking over of the state administration by the Army or by other armed forces of the Union,” the highest court had said.
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| Jan 10-11, Walkathon against AFSPA |
# In a different case last week, the Supreme Court blasted the Nagaland government for delaying the implementation of 33% women’s reservation in local bodies and called such approaches “really shameful”.
# In May this year, the Home Ministry said though on decline, insurgency-related incidents still persist and in 2020, the NSCN (IM) remained the most active group.
#Supreme Court on July 20, Tuesday stayed proceedings against 30 army personnel booked by #Nagaland police in connection with the killing of 14 civilians in Mon district in December 2021 in a botched up anti #insurgency operation.
"In view of the admitted position that mandatory previous sanction as required under Section 6 of the Armed Forces (Special 4 Powers) Act, 1958 has not been obtained, we are constrained to pass an interim order staying further proceedings pursuant to FIR No. 27 of 2021/Final Report of the Special Investigation Team/Chargesheet", the bench said.
The order was passed by Bench of Justices Indira Banerjee and V Ramasubramanian. They 'recorded' that that the death of a paratrooper during the incident had not been investigated yet, sources said.
The Court was hearing two pleas, one of which was filed by Anjali Gupta wife of Major Ankush Gupta, who was one of the army officers booked by the Nagaland Police.
The petitioner sought quashing of the concerned first information report (FIR), the findings and recommendations of the Special Investigation Team (SIT) appointed by the State government, and all other ancillary proceedings arising out the December incident including the complaint filed by the National Human Rights Commission.
On Dec. 4, 2021, a special army unit opened fire at a pickup van carrying Konyak Naga coal miners to their village, reportedly mistaking them for armed insurgents.
Six were killed on the spot while seven more civilians and a soldier reportedly died when angry locals clashed with the men from Assam Rifles, leaving many injured.
At least 15 civilians and a soldier were killed in Christian-dominated state in India’s northeast region in what was later called a 'botched up or bungled military operation' that led to retaliatory riots by angry locals.
Sources said, the petitioners prayed before the court that the SIT of Nagaland polcie and State functionaries had allegedly 'turned a blind eye' to the safety of the accused and their family members by revealing their personal information.
Further, intelligence received by the accused was not taken cognisance of.
Moreover, despite being personnel protected by the Armed Forces Special Powers Act and the Army Act, they are being proceeded against under the Criminal Procedure Code instead.
The petitioner says that army personnel and officials were only "performing their bonafide duties as directed by the Union of India, but the SIT so constituted to conduct a free and impartial investigation into the said incident has acted in a completely arbitrary, unilateral and illegal manner, by picking and choosing the evidence available before it to appease the public outcry and to assuage the concerns of the chose few."
It was contended that the SIT attributed criminality to the accused 'in its zest' to conclude the probe and appease a section of society on the basis of a 'lopsided investigation'.
The plea accused the SIT and State functionaries of having turned a blind eye to the safety of the accused and their family members by revealing their personal information. Further, intelligence received by the accused was not taken cognisance of.
Despite being personnel protected by the Armed Forces Special Powers Act and the Army Act, they are being proceeded against under the Criminal Procedure Code instead, it was pointed out.
The petition was filed through advocate Astha Sharma.
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| Enchanting Arunachal Pradesh |
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