Excelsior Correspondent
SRINAGAR, Apr 6: High Court today reserved its verdict over infamous Pathribal fake encounter with regard to maintainability of writ petition filed by the next kin of victims.
Justice Tashi Rabstan after hearing counsel for both the parties at length reserved its order in to the matter. The petitioner are seeking quashing of decision by CBI vide its order dated 28.5.2015.
They further sought direction from the court to Court of Inquiry to transfer the proceedings to the CBI court for taking cognizance. “Direct the CBI court to resume jurisdiction subject to the procedure established by law”, reads the petition.
They sought further direction upon CBI to comply with directions given by Hon’ble Supreme Court by making an application to the Central Government for grant of sanction within four weeks.
Petitioners further wanted Central Government and the Army to get them to cooperate with the criminal justice system and assist the Hon’ble Sessions Court in bringing the accused to trial before the Sessions Court.
The present Writ Petition has been filed by the families of five men killed in Pathribal by Army officials, who have been been shielded from the consequences of murder by the Respondents Union of India, through Defence Ministry, New Delhi General Officer Commanding, 16 Corps, c/o 56 APO. The death of the five men as alleged by the petitioner was at the hands of the Respondents Brigadier Ajay Saxena, c/o 56 APO, Lt. Col. Brajendra Pratap Singh, c/o 56 APO, Major Sourabh Sharma, c/o 56 APO, Subedar Idrees Khan, c/o 56 AP, Major Amit Saxena, c/o 56 APO is admitted by the Army and army record establishes the same.
Petitioners submitted the original claim that these were militants killed in an encounter has been exposed as a lie by the scientific reports of two impartial and highly regarded forensic institutes. The dead men are the kin of the petitioners as the DNA examinations by CDFD, Hyderabad and CFSL, Kolkata revealed.
“Therefore the case is one of cold blooded murder as found by the CBI. Yet the Army, by resort to the special procedure under the Army Act and Rules, has declared it to be a case of no evidence, which finding has been arrived at in a wholly opaque process and in the face of established record”, reads the petition.
The order for dismissal of the case, the petitioners say, and its basis are kept secret, even as the relevant material and witnesses have been kept totally out of consideration in arriving at this conclusion.
The order of dismissal is motivated and unjustified. The petitioners contend that the Pathribal fake encounter which occurred on 25.03.2000 must in all justice be tried by the open system of the general criminal law, for the Army has resorted to impunity in this regard.
The petitioners sought the Court’s intervention against the impunity and pray for appropriate directions to quash the said order and enable trial by the regular procedure of the land.
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