Excelsior Correspondent
Jammu, Nov 7: The State High Court has reserved its judgment in the alleged 2001 fake encounter case, in which Army Chief General Bikram Singh, who was then a Brigadier commanding Rashtriya Rifles in Anantnag was injured.
Justice Hasnain Masoodi reserved the judgment today after all the concerned parties concluded their arguments in the case.
Advocate General, M Ishaq Qadri completed his argument on November 1 and had sought dismissal of the case. Army counsels Karnail Singh and K S Johal had also completed their arguments and had claimed that the petition was part of a conspiracy to malign the image of Gen Bikram Singh.
The complainant’s counsel, Zaffar Qureshi has also concluded his arguments. The petition had been filed by family members of a civilian, Abdullah Bhat, alleging that the encounter at Janglat Mandi, Anantnag on March 1, 2001, wasn’t genuine.
The Union of India (UoI) counsel K S Johal had stated before the Bench that the litigation against the Army Chief General Bikram Singh was motivated and was filed to forestall his elevation.
“The Supreme Court has already given a clean chit to the General Bikram Singh by dismissing the petition against him. Even the Selection Committee that recommended General Singh’s name for elevation as country’s Army Chief had also discussed the case of Mandi encounter”, said the counsel K S Johal.
The counsel submitted before the High Court, “How can Janglat Mandi encounter be fake when it has resulted in the death of a Colonel and a soldier? Besides, General Singh also sustained serious injuries in this encounter”. He added that the litigation claiming that the foreign militant killed in the 2001 encounter was labourer from Kupwara is full of malafide. “Where was the petition since last 10 years and why he has approached the court after so much delay”, he added while praying for dismissal of the petition.
The State Government has also taken similar view before the Court and argued that the petition had been filed to play mischief as the petitioner has approached court after prolonged delay. “The case isn’t maintainable on many grounds and must be dismissed”, stated Mohammad Ishaq Qadri before the Court, while substantiating his argument.
Police and Defence Ministry have already submitted their objections to the petitioners’ pleas. The State Government has already adopted the version of the police in High Court.
In its objections, the Ministry of Defence has strongly denied the allegation that Janglat Mandi encounter was fake. Lieutenant Colonel Sandeep Sharma in his objection on behalf of the Ministry of Defence had denied the allegation that Lieutenant General Bikram Singh had influenced the police investigations into the encounter by hatching a conspiracy with the then SSP Anantnag and the then SHO Anantnag police station.
The petitioner, Zytoona Begum, in October 2011 had moved High Court alleging that her son, Abdullah Bhat, was killed in fake encounter in Janglat Mandi and was later identified by the Army as foreign militant Mateen Chacha.
The petitioner’s counsel, during his arguments in May, had sought identification of the grave and DNA testing.
Trending Now
E-Paper
Follow our WhatsApp channel