SC to hear plea of armymen challenging FIRs in AFSPA areas

Satya Prakash

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, August 14

The Supreme Court on Tuesday agreed to take up on August 20 a petition filed by over 350 army personnel challenging the CBI probe against security forces in disturbed areas. 

Challenging dilution of Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA), the petitioners contended that military operations against insurgency would be adversely affected by such probe against Armymen. 

CJI Dipak Misra posted it for hearing on Monday after advocate Aishwarya Bhati, representing the petitioners, told the Bench headed by Justice Misra that “military operations in border areas will suffer” if dilution of AFSPA in disturbed areas was allowed as it exposed security forces to unnecessary risks.

“Protection of soldiers acting in good faith under AFSPA is imperative to protect the soldiers engaged with direct and proxy enemy and insurgency and cannot be diluted without a specific and categoric amendment in law,” the petitioners submitted.

The petition comes barely two weeks after CBI director Alok Kumar Verma told the Supreme Court that the agency had filed two chargesheets against 15 security personnel in connection with fake encounter killings and 14 of them had been charged with murder, criminal conspiracy and destruction of evidence.

Verma, who was summoned by the top court to explain the delay in implementing the court’s order, had told a Bench headed by Justice Madan B Lokur on July 30 that five more chargesheets/final reports would be filed by the end of August.

The Supreme Court had in July 2017 directed a CBI probe into alleged extra-judicial killings by Army, Assam Rifles and Manipur Police in the insurgency-hit state. It had asked the CBI Director to appoint an SIT to conduct the probe into the alleged killings. The order had come on a PIL seeking probe and compensation in the alleged 1,528 extra-judicial killings by security forces in Manipur between 2000 and 2012.

The petition by Armymen is essentially against the top court’s recent orders to the CBI to register FIRs, investigate and prosecute security forces for alleged extra-judicial killings in Manipur during operations in the insurgency-hit northeastern state in the past two decades.

The petitioners have demanded laying down of specific guidelines “to protect the bona fide action of soldiers under AFSPA, so that no soldier is harassed by initiation of criminal proceedings for actions done in good faith in exercise of their duties, as mandated by the Union of India, in protection of sovereignty, integrity and dignity of the country”.

The petition demanded “adequate compensation” for the affected serving personnel and their families who had been unnecessarily embroiled in mala fide criminal proceedings for discharging their bona fide duties.

They have also sought a direction to the Government “to take all  steps to protect the soldiers protecting the integrity and sovereignty of the nation from persecution and  prosecution by motivated and indiscriminate FIRs against the mandate of law”.