Early Times Report
Jammu, Feb 27: In a Public Interest Litigation filed by Jammu and Kashmir High Court Bar Association, Srinagar, filed by Mian Abdul Qayoom, Advocate, President of the Bar Association, with the prayer, inter alia, to order and monitor conduct of probe by a team of Officers in the incidents of ChakDragmulla, Kupwara dated 21st of May, 2016 and Sarai Bala, Srinagar dated 23rd of May, 2016.
A Division Bench of the State High Court Comprising Justice Ali Mohammad Magrey and Justice Sanjeev Kumar after hearing MA Qayoom for the PIL, dismissed the PIL with the observations that this is not a case where this Court would need to take any action in exercise of its inherent powers, for, the State and its functionaries have already taken the required steps envisaged by law.
The petitioner states that according to newspaper reports published on 21st of May, 2016, five militants were killed and three army men injured in a nine-hour long encounter in ChakDragmulla village of North Kashmir's Kupwara District. It is stated that the forces blew up the house where they claimed the militants were hiding and after medico-legal formalities, the bodies of the slain militants, who were killed, were handed over to the local Auqaf Committee for last rites. It is also alleged that as per the locals the militants had been killed five to six days before and were brought to the village to show that they were killed in an encounter.
DB further observed that the FIRs stand duly registered at the concerned Police Stations in relation to the incidents in question. Not only that, enquiries have been ordered in both the incidents and in the incident of ChakDragmulla, the magisterial inquiry has been concluded wherein no Government agency has been indicted and further investigation is in progress.
Further, there is no reason for this Court to suspect that the Police would not do what is required of them under the Code of Criminal Procedure to achieve the aforesaid objectives. Even if, for the sake of argument, a probe is ordered, any report that may ultimately be made by such authority would not be more than a recommendation. And such authority, for formulation of such recommendation, would again be dependent upon the very same police agency. |
