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| SC stays trial in Pathribal killings | | Lal Quila attacker Ashfaq gets gallows, 6 acquitted | | Early Times Reporter
Jammu|Sep 13
The Supreme Court today stayed the trial of army personnel charged with killing five "innocent" persons after branding them terrorists in Jammu and Kashmir's Anantnag district on March 25, 2000.
The five men were shot dead in a joint operation by the army and police in Pathribal village of Anantnag district, as a sequel to the gruesome killing of 35 people in village Chattisinghpura by terrorists a few days prior to the visit of the then US President Bill Clinton to India.
The apex court stayed the trial after the Additional Solicitor General Vikas Singh appearing for the army authorities submitted that the CBI conducted the prosecution and filed the chargesheet without obtaining the mandatory sanction of the Central Government.
A bench of Justices B N Aggrawal and P P Naolekar, while staying the trial, issued notices to the CBI and the Jammu and Kashmir government for their response on the petition filed by the army authorities
Meanwhile, the Delhi High Court today upheld the death sentence to Pakistani Lashkar-e-Toiba militant Mohd Ashfaq in the seven-year-old Red Fort attack case, saying terrorists who have no value for human lives deserved capital punishment.
The Court, however, acquitted six others including Ashfaq's Indian wife Rehamana Yosuf Farooqui and Srinagar- based father-and-son duo Nazir Ahmed Qasid and Farooq Ahmed Qasid, who were earlier sentenced to life imprisonment.
Three soldiers were killed when six terrorists had stormed Red Fort in December 2000 and opened indiscriminate firing. The army personnel retaliated but the terrorists managed to escape.
"Death sentence is the only appropriate punishment which Mohammed Ashfaq deserves and has been rightly sentenced to death by the trial court and we have no hesitation in affirming that sentence," a Division bench of Justices R S Sodhi and P K Bhasin said.
"In case death sentence is not awarded to these kinds of terrorists who have no value for human lives and they are not bothered even for their own lives while indulging in these kinds of terrorist activities, the conscience of entire community would be shocked," it observed, in its 210-page verdict, dismissing Ashfaq's appeal against the conviction.
"This can definitely be said to be a case falling in the category of rarest of rare cases, where the extreme penalty of death only would serve the ends of justice," the Bench said, rejecting the plea that Ashfaq's sentence be remitted to life term.
Ashfaq, a resident of Pakistan, joined LeT and illegally entered India after getting training for using AK-56 rifles and hand grenades, the prosecution contended.
The Bench lent credence to the fact that Ashfaq, during the investigation, led the police team to a shop in old Delhi area here from where over Rs one lakh was recovered.
The recovery of the hawala money, meant for some illegal purposes, from the shop of one Sher Jaman was corroborated by an independent witness, the Bench observed.
"Accused Ashfaq was not doing any lawful business and huge amount of money he had collected from unlawful sources since he himself has not come out with any details of his income from any lawful sources," it held adding "circumstances relied upon by the prosecution also stood duly established".
The Bench also held the LeT militant guilty of procuring fake ration cards and driving licence to forge an Indian identity.
"Ashfaq had intentionally not been disclosing his correct addresses to different authorities and all this was done by him to avoid being detected as a militant having come to India illegally through a prohibited route to carry out terrorist activities," it said.
The Court, dismissing Ashfaq's appeal, said the accused had admitted entering India through Nepal and he did not obtain requisite visa from Indian government.
The militant's contention that he was falsely implicated in the case as the shoot out was a result of intra-fighting among army personnel in the camp, stationed inside Red Fort premises was rejected by the Bench.
"We do not find anything on record from which it could be inferred that the incident inside the army camp could be a result of soldiers fighting amongst themselves after consuming liquor," it said.
"If actually that had happened we see no reason as to why army authorities would be hesitant to disown that and would concoct such a big story by involving its officers at the highest level," the Bench said, adding that why would the police help the army in concoction of such a story.
The charge that the convicted militant had tried to wage war against the Government of India was proved beyond reasonable doubt, the Court said.
The manner, in which, Ashfaq came to India and collected sophisticated arms and ammunition and chose to attack an army camp, that too, in Red Fort established their intention to wage war against the country, the Bench said.
The Bench upheld the trial court findings holding Ashfaq guilty of murder, criminal conspiracy, cheating under the IPC and under various provisions of the Explosives and the Foreigners' Act.
However, the Bench criticised the lower court verdict, convicting six other accused, saying "We became anxious to find out as to how the six accused had been found guilty by the trial judge when despite our digging deep into the prosecution evidence; we could not find sufficient evidence against them."
Public Prosecutor Mukta Gupta, later, said the police, after examining the judgement, may consider approaching the Supreme Court against the dismissal of their two appeals, which were filed seeking enhancement of punishment of Srinagar-based father-son duo.
Ashfaq and five other LeT militants, on the night of December 22, 2000, had sneaked into the Red Fort premises and opened indiscriminate firing killing three army personnel, including two jawans of the seventh Rajputana Rifles.
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