Kashmir Death: Government Still Unresponsive to Court Demand

Bangalore: The government has been confused since the decision was left to the government to decide on over ruling the Armed Forces Special Power act in Pathribal case. Government was given the deadline by Supreme Court to take decision before the end of December but the government has failed to take any decisions yet.

Pathribal case occurred in the year of 2000 stands as a real scandal for army men having killed 5 men in a fake encounter. The case has been crawling for years now. Many opinions came against Armed forces Special Power Act since it protected accused army men of Parthribal encounter. The case was investigated by CBI and by 2006 they could identify five soldiers for the deaths of civilians. The case is also prominent because it happened in the same year followed by Chittisinghpura massacre which resulted in the death of 36 Sikhs. Though Chittisinghpura massacre was an Islamic fundamentalist militant group attack both the cases happened in the Army back ground.

In Pathribal case, internal Army politics with the support of Armed Forces Special Power act has saved accused army men from any court proceedings. The Supreme Court has criticized both the government and army for hindering the criminal investigation. Army officers were not interested in court marshaling the accused. They were also not ready to leave the army men for normal criminal case proceedings. On the other hand the government is not yet ready to over rule the Armed forces Special Power Act.

CBI’s demand to bring the alleged soldiers to prosecution has been unnoticed by both the government and Army officials. In CBI’s view the accused does not deserve any protection from the present law. CBI argues for an exemplary punishment for the cold blooded murder but the case has been stuck for quite some time now.

The case reveals the hidden face of law to protect the convicts rather than punishing. Our law system is sometimes is caught in the political system of our country. Our laws' inability to take action crossing governmental barriers leaves the accused unpunished. It is also necessary that there must be special rules for the soldiers who risk their life in the places like Jammu and Kashmir protecting the people from terrorist and Pakistan Military attacks. But the law must not be a permission to violate the human rights of innocent people.